Stellar
by DPRRluvJ13MM
Summary: Danny's having trouble sleeping. His problems only get worse when Nocturn returns to seek revenge on him by getting him lost in the night, amongst the stars.
1. Chapter 1

Danny hugged his pillow tightly

_**Okay, so I probably should be working on Danny Phantom of the opera but this story idea kinda popped into my head a few minutes ago so I felt the need to write it down. Besides, I wanted to put SOMETHING up on fanfiction since I've been spending pretty much all my time on deviantart. I'll probably put this up on there too with pictures, but anyway, this story takes place before Phantom Planet so no one knows Danny's secret and takes place after Frightmare. Well, I think it's kinda random, but I hope you like it Please read and review with NO FLAMES! Remember, I'm still not that good at writing, I'd prefer constructive criticism if something's really bugging you about my formatting. Thank you **_

**Chapter 1: Sleepless Night.**

Danny hugged his pillow tightly. He couldn't fall asleep. No matter how hard he tried, something kept depriving him of sleep. The problem was, he didn't know what it was.

He lifted his head to look at the alarm clock. 3:30 a.m. and not a wink of sleep. Danny groaned and dropped his head back into his soft pillow.

He closed his eyes tightly. _What can I do to get to sleep?_ He thought._ Maybe I could count sheep…that works for some people! Let's see, one…two…three….four…_

His sheep counting was interrupted by the sound of glass hitting the floor. His eyes opened and he looked around his room. It looked the same as far as he could see. There was very little light in his room except for a slim line of moon light running across the floor from between the curtains. Another crashing glass sound. Danny threw of the sheets and got up. He lazily opened his bedroom door and walked downstairs.

The hallway was pitch black. A glowing green ball of light formed in the palm of Danny's hand and the hallway lit up. As Danny carefully descended down the stairs, a blue mist escaped from his mouth. "Great, wonder who it is this time," Danny asked to himself, irritated.

He was already tired of not being able to sleep, the last thing he wanted was another ghost fight to deprive him of more sleep. Another crash and a loud scream. Danny ran down the stairs and into his parent's underground lab.

"Danny!" he heard his mother's voice called.

The glowing green light in Danny's hand disappeared quickly, Danny didn't want his mom seeing him using his ghost powers.

Just then, a bright, white light flashed in Danny's eyes, practically blinding him. He squinted to see the silhouette of his mother running towards him. She was holding a flashlight.

"Danny! Sweetie, are you alright?" his mother, Maddie, asked reaching out for his hand.

"Mom, what's going on?" Danny asked taking her hand.

"Ghost attack, no time to explain, come on! We need to wake up your sister!" Maddie said almost breathlessly.

She pulled on Danny's arm and led him up the stairs. As they ran upstairs, Danny asked: "What were you doing in the lab at 3:30 in the morning?"

"I'll explain later," Maddie said sounding panicked.

They ran into Danny's sister, Jazz's, room to see she was already awake.

"Mom, what's going on?" Jazz asked.

"Come on, I'll explain later," Maddie said taking Jazz's hand and leading her children out into the hall.

"Wait, where's dad?" Danny asked.

Suddenly, a loud, explosive sound emitted from down stairs. "BACK OFF SPOOK!" boomed the voice of Danny's father, Jack Fenton.

Blue mist escaped from Danny's mouth once again.

"Tell me, where is the ghost boy?" Danny heard a spine –chillingly familiar voice ask.

"No, it can't be…" Danny whispered to himself. Maddie flashed her flashlight in the direction of the voices.

"I already told you, ghost, there's no ghost boy here!" Jack's voice said.

"Don't lie to me human, just tell me where he is," the ghost's voice said.

"There's no ghost boy here! Now get out of my house!" Jack's voice bellowed.

"You are no use to me, human, at least not while you're awake. I think you'll fit my needs better if I put you to sleep," the ghost's voice hissed.

Danny could here whatever weapon Jack had been holding drop and then a loud thudding noise. Maddie ran to the stairway. "Jack!" she cried in horror.

Danny and Jazz ran over to her and looked over the rail to see their father collapsed on the floor with some sort of mechanical hat on. Hovering over him were dozens of floating green figures with eyes that had the appearance of sewn up slits. Danny's attention was focused on the ghost who was staring right at him.

Two piercing red eyes glared, almost burning a hole through Danny's face. The ghost twisted his frown into a smile. Danny recognized every detail of the ghost who was staring him down. He had a light scar over his left eye, a black goatie, and purple horns that resembled a ram. His long, thin, black body was covered in twinkling stars and he had long, waving tentacles for feet.

"Hello, Danny Phantom," the ghost, Nocturn, greeted wickedly.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nocturn

**Chapter 2: Escape**

"Nocturn! What are you doing-?" Danny started.

He suddenly realized his mother was standing right next to him.

"Uh, I mean, who are you and what are you doing here?!" Danny covered quickly.

"Don't play games with my ghost boy, they _tire_ me," Nocturn said stressing the word 'tire'.

"Ghost boy? Why are you calling him that?" Maddie asked shaking a little bit.

"I see you still haven't told anyone your secret Danny," Nocturn chuckled lightly to himself. "I'm actually a little surprised, I know how you _dream_ of telling them."

"Danny, what is he talking about? Do you know him?" Maddie asked in shock.

"I-I don't know what he's talking about," Danny lied.

"Lying through your teeth are you? Personally, I don't think you're that good at it," Nocturn said suddenly appearing behind Danny, looking a little shorter.

Danny backed into his mother's arms. "Alright ghost, what do you want with us?" Maddie snapped pointing the flash light in Nocturn's face.

The light in his face hardly made Nocturn flinch. He smiled wickedly and said: "You and everyone other than Danny? Your dreams. My energy source. With Danny? I seek revenge." His eyes blazed.

"Revenge?! What did Danny ever do to you?" Maddie asked.

"Mom, I think we should go," Jazz whispered pulling on her mother's arm.

"Come on host boy, fess up! Tell your mother everything you've been hiding from her," Nocturn said as he circled around Danny and Maddie like a serpent.

Danny closed his eyes. Maybe this was all a dream. Nocturn wasn't there, he wasn't circling around him and his mother, his father wasn't asleep at the mercy of an army of sleepwalkers. Yes, this was a dream, he was still in bed, sleeping like a baby and no one in his family was in danger. As hard as he tried convincing himself that that was true, Nocturn's devious laughter made him snap back to reality.

"Well ghost boy, are you going to speak up? Or am I going to have to tell her for you?" Nocturn asked.

Even though his eyes were closed, Danny could tell Nocturn was an inch away from his face. Something icy welled up inside of Danny as Nocturn mocked him about his secret.

He opened his eyes to see Nocturn's bright, red eyes still burning through him. Danny's light blue eyes became icy and cold, so cold in fact, that ice shot out of them freezing Nocturn's face.

Nocturn made a muffled cry and sprang backward. "RUN!" Danny cried.

He grabbed his mom's and Jazz's arms and ran to his parents bedroom. He threw the carpet in the middle of the room to the side, positioned himself, his mother, and sister where the carpet had original been, and said: "Three to the op-center!"

A long glass tube formed around the three Fenton's and sucked them up into the op-center. "Danny, what are we gonna do?" Jazz asked him quietly.

"I don't know," Danny answered.

"Danny! What was that all about?" Maddie asked breathing heavily.

"First, you tell me what happened," Danny said.

Maddie sighed. "Fair enough. Your father and I were working on the Ecto-Stopo-Powero-thingy and sort of…lost track of time….We were going to go to bed but your father dropped a couple of beakers so we were going to clean them up when that ghost came out of no where. I was going to help Jack fight off the ghost but he told me to go get you two."

Danny narrowed his eyes in on her. "I don't think you're telling us everything," he said.

"That's all that happened Danny," Maddie protested.

"You and dad wouldn't stay up this late just to work on one ghost hunting weapon," Danny retorted.

"Actually Danny, they probably would…" Jazz said.

"Whatever! I still don't think you're telling me everything!" Danny snapped.

"Danny, I promise you, I've told you everything that happened!" Maddie said.

Danny sighed. "Fine, I believe you…"

"Alright, now what's this business about you being called the 'ghost boy'?" Maddie asked.

The look in her eyes made Danny feel like he was back in kindergarten and had just snuck a few cookies when he should've been taking a nap.

Danny took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly. "I-…" he started. Suddenly, the blue mist came out of his mouth again.

:"What was that?" Maddie asked in shock.

Danny didn't say anything. "Danny?" Jazz asked with a worried look in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine…just fine," Danny said looking down at his toes.

More blue mist escaped from his mouth. "Danny! What's going on?!" Maddie asked sharply.

"I don't know how I can tell you, but right now, I guess I have no other option but to show you," Danny said closing his eyes.

Two blue rings formed around his waist and started to pass over his body. His baggy, purple pajamas were suddenly replaced by a black and white hazmat suit with a white D with a P inside of it on his chest. His raven black hair had suddenly turned snowy white. When he opened his eyes, Maddie saw that they were no longer light blue. Instead, his eyes were a blazing green color.

Maddie was in utter shock but before she had the chance to say anything, Danny grabbed her arm and Jazz's and said: "Let's go!"

He jumped in the air and suddenly became weightless and colorless, as did Jazz and Maddie. With ease, the three of them phased through the roof of the op-center. While reverting back to a solid, colorful state, Danny flew off into the night, holding his mother and sister tightly in his arms.

"D-Danny," Maddie started shaking violently as Danny flew higher and higher into the endless night sky.

"Mom, it's okay, Danny knows what he's doing," Jazz reassured her mother. Quietly, she added: "I hope."

Maddie looked behind her and saw a dozen green sleepwalkers gaining fast on their tail. Danny jerked to a stop and turned to face the sleepwalkers.

"Danny!" Maddie cried.

Danny didn't answer. His eyes turned and icy blue and ice shot out of them. One by one, Danny froze the sleepwalkers with an icy glare. The weight of the ice and laws of gravity pulled the sleepwalkers down to the solid Earth below where they shattered into a million pieces.

After the very last sleepwalker hit the ground, Danny turned around and took off. He didn't know where he would go and he didn't care, but he knew that he had to get away fast.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Daydreams

**Chapter 3: Daydreams**

It felt like they had been flying forever, at least that's how Maddie felt. Everyone so often, she would look down at the town below only to look back up so she wouldn't feel sick. Danny hadn't said a word since he whisked Maddie and Jazz away from Fenton Works. As much as Maddie wanted to say something to her son, the serious and almost annoyed look on Danny's face made her keep quiet.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Danny landed in a grassy area, full of trees and flowers. He let go of his mother and sister then fell on his back. He closed his eyes and breathed steadily. He took in the smell of dew on the grass. The cool breeze felt good as it froze the beads of sweat on his face from flying for so long.

"Um…Danny…" Maddie started.

"Mom…" Jazz cautioned.

Danny rolled over on his side and curled up into a ball.

"Did you know about this?!" Maddie asked shaking violently.

"Well…sort of….yes," Jazz said.

"I just-I don't believe-I mean…I just don't understand how…" Maddie stammered.

"I'll try to explain, I think it would be better if Danny told you what happened but...I think he needs some rest," Jazz said looking over her shoulder to see her brother sleeping in the wet grass.

Maddie took several deep breaths to clam down then sat Indian style in the grass. "Alright, start explaining," she said.

Danny tried his hardest to drown out his sister talking and tried to fall asleep, but it was no use. No matter how hard he tried, he always ended up opening his eyes only to close them again and keep trying.

_What is wrong with me? Why can't I fall asleep? Ugh! This stinks! I can't get to sleep AND Nocturn's after me! And now my mom knows who I am…_

Danny opened his eyes at this thought. He lifted himself up so that he was sitting up straight. He turned to look at Jazz and Maddie who had just stopped their conversation to look at him. Danny gulped. Jazz was looking at him a little worried and Maddie was staring at him with a look of absolute shock.

"Mm…mom…" Danny started.

"I'll let you two talk," Jazz said getting up and walking a little bit away from her family.

Danny scooted himself over to his mother, who still looked frightened and almost backed away from him as hr approached.

"Mom, look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just…I didn't think you and dad would accept me like this and...I mean…I know you guys love me but…." Danny tried his hardest to explain.

"Danny, stop," Maddie stopped him, holding her hand up..

Danny's head sunk into his shoulders and he looked down at the grass. A ladybug crawled onto his leg from a long blade of grass. Danny let the ladybug crawl onto his finger and lifted it up to his sight level.

"Danny, Jazz told me that you got your ghost powers from an accident down in the lab…" Maddie started.

"Yeah, when you guys made the ghost portal," Danny said still staring down at the ladybug that scuttled across his hand.

"Right…listen, Danny…I know you probably think your father and I don't like your ghost half…" Maddie started again.

"Which you don't…" Danny finished as the ladybug started to creep down his arm.

"Well…we didn't know…well….your father still doesn't know but…" Maddie sighed. "Danny what I'm trying to say is that…I'm sorry for making you feel like you couldn't talk to us about this…I mean, we never stopped talking about hunting ghosts…"

"Mom, it's okay. I wanted to tell you but…I guess I just wasn't ready for you to know, I mean…what if you got hurt because of some ghost coming after me?" Danny paused to think. "Now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't have mattered…Nocturn's already got dad…" He continued to watch the ladybug scamper across his arm.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Maddie asked.

"He'll be fine. All Nocturn did was make him fall asleep. He uses those dream helmets to absorb people's dreams so he can get more powerful," Danny said. He held his opposite hand to his shoulder so the ladybug wouldn't get to close to his face.

"What's the business with this 'Nocturn'? What happened between you two?" Maddie asked.

"I stopped him from absorbing peoples dream, and now he's going to seek revenge on me for it," Danny said in an almost bored tone.

The ladybug's shell opened and it's wings sprouted. They flapped violently and the ladybug flew off of Danny's hand and over to Maddie's. Maddie let the ladybug land on her fingertip and said: "So, what we going to do?"

"I'm not sure…I'll think of something, right now I need some sleep," Danny said crawling away from his mother.

"Danny, what if Nocturn comes and attacks you?" Maddie asked a little frantically.

"I'll be fine. If Nocturn comes I'll know it," Danny said starting to lie down.

"How?" Maddie asked.

"My ghost sense will go off," Danny said pointing to his mouth and laid down.

He closed his eyes and tried to empty everything from his mind. He breathed steadily and started slowly falling asleep. He was almost completely out of it when suddenly, a dark figure covered in stars with piercing red eyes popped up in his mind.

_What? _Danny asked the figure.

_Don't expect to fall asleep so easily ghost boy, _the voice of Nocturn said.

_Leave me alone!_ Danny snapped.

_I don't think so ghost boy, I can see inside your head. Your mind is merely a plaything in my hands,_ Nocturn's said and the dark figure held out it's hand.

_Just go away!_ Danny yelled.

Nocturn laughed and the figure gripped Danny's hair tightly.

_Stop! Go away!_ Danny shouted as he struggled to get out of Nocturn's grasp.

Nocturn's laugh grew louder and more menacing. Danny's vision started blurring. All he could see was a dark swirling mass full of stars and the color red.

_Wh-what are you doing? Stop it. STOP!_ Danny screamed.

Danny found himself completely weightless, he felt like he was floating. Nocturn gripped Danny's hair tighter.

Suddenly, Danny hard a small whizzing sound. He squinted to see what was making the noise but all he could see were streaks of red and jumbled stars. Just then, a small rocket speed past Danny. It looked lie a rocket at least, all Danny saw was a blur of red, blue, yellow, and white. He squinted harder and saw a clump of stars start to spiral and randomly change colors.

Suddenly, a rush of heat whooshed past Danny's face. All he could see by then were flashes of yellow, red, and orange. Nocturn's laughing continued.

_Stop it! Let me go! What are you doing?! Stop it! STOP IT!_ Danny cried.

"Danny!" he heard Jazz yell.

The blurred colors vanished and Danny found himself lying on his stomach, panting and breathing like mad. Beads sweat rolled down his face. He whipped them away and turned to see his mother and sister's worried faces.

"Danny! Are you alright?" Maddie cried rushing towards her son. Danny noticed the ladybug had not yet left it's place on her finger.

"What happened?" Danny asked putting his palm to his forehead.

"You were sleeping and then you started screaming," Jazz explained.

Danny took a deep breath and looked around. It was still dark out but there were a few morning stars twinkling from above.

"Nocturn…" Danny muttered breathlessly.

"What?" Jazz asked.

"Nocturn, he was talking to me, while I was trying to sleep. Was he here? Did I miss something?" Danny asked rubbing his head.

"Nocturn wasn't here sweetie. You must've had a bad dream," Maddie said rubbing Danny's back with the hand opposite of the one the ladybug was on.

Danny sighed. Everything was happening so fast. He wanted it to stop. He wanted to go to bed and be able to sleep without Nocturn interrupting.

The ladybug spread it's wings and flew up to Danny's nose. Danny thought he was going crazy due to his lack of sleep but he was pretty sure that the spots on the ladybugs shell were shaped like stars.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny, Jazz, and Maddie sat in a circle and threw ideas on how to stop Nocturn back and forth

_**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was kind of stuck on what to write for this chapter, but I finally finished it. Well, hope you enjoy. R&R with NO FLAMES please!**_

**Chapter 4: The Attack**

Danny, Jazz, and Maddie sat in a circle and threw ideas on how to stop Nocturn back and forth. The ladybug with the stars on it's shell continued to crawl up and down someone's arm then spread it's wings and fly to the next one. For a while, Danny thought it was a little weird the ladybug was sticking around for so long but slowly started getting used to it to the point where he didn't even notice it was there anymore.

"So let's run this over one more time…" Maddie said. "Nocturn uses dream helmets to put people to sleep so he can absorb their dreams and become more powerful…"

"And he has a huge army of creepwalkers…" Jazz started.

"Sleepwalkers," Danny corrected.

"Right. And dreams make them stronger too," Jazz finished.

"So unless everyone he's put to sleep wakes up, he'll just keep getting more powerful?" Maddie asked.

"Right! And the only way to wake everyone up is by shocking them inside their dreams, or destroying whatever 'dream machine' Nocturn's come up with," Danny said.

"Well we can't wake everyone up," Maddie said.

"We'll need back up! I say we wake up Tucker and Sam, and if all else fails…dad," Jazz added wondering if her father would be any real help.

"We might as well wake up dad first, I need to go back to the house and get the Fenton Thermos anyway," Danny said standing up.

The ladybug, which had been crawling across Jazz's sky blue nightgown, spread it's wings and landed on Danny's left shoulder.

Danny grabbed his mother and sister by the waist and was about to take off when the blue mist escaped from his mouth.

"Oh no," Danny whispered to himself.

The sky, which had started to become brighter as dawn approached, suddenly became pitch black. The air became colder than it already was, making the Fenton's shiver violently. A cloud of colorful smoke emerged from thin air and in a spiraling motion, Nocturn appear from the center.

"Honestly Phantom, did you _really_ think you could stop me?" Nocturn asked grinning mischievously.

"I bet you the last time didn't I?" Danny said letting go of his mother and sister.

"That was different. Because last time I only absorbed the dreams of Amity Park. _Now_ I have the dreams of over half the United States!" Nocturn explained.

Danny's eyes widened in fear. "No way."

"Yes! And now all I have to do is put them to sleep," Nocturn said eyeing Maddie and Jazz.

"You leave them alone!" Danny shouted and blasted a ray of green ectoplasm at Nocturn.

Nocturn smiled and evaporated into thin air, causing the blast to go right through him. Danny gritted his teeth. "Where are you?!" he shouted.

Suddenly, a chill crawled up Danny's neck. He turned around to see Nocturn forming out of a cloud of colors. He quickly blasted Nocturn before he got any closer. Nocturn landed on his back. He narrowed his eyes on Danny and growled loudly: "Sleepwalkers! Form!"

An army of sleepwalkers emerged from thin air. Danny blasted every single one that came his way.

"Sleepwalkers! Form!" Nocturn bellowed.

More and more sleep walkers appeared and Danny continued to fire beams of green ecto-energy at them. Suddenly, two sleepwalkers snuck up on Maddie and Jazz and swept them off the ground.

"NO!" Danny cried.

The sleepwalkers dangled Maddie and Jazz high above the ground.

"Careful ghost boy, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your family now would you?" Nocturn asked wickedly.

Danny's hands started to glow a blazing green and the glow only grew stronger as Danny looked back at Nocturn.

"LET THEM GO!" Danny ordered.

"Oh, but what fun is revenge if I can't torture you?" Nocturn asked playfully, his glowing red eyes narrowing on Danny.

Danny finally exploded. The beams of energy in his hands were glowing so bright that it had turned a blazing white. Before Danny had the chance to blast him, Nocturn quickly evaporated into thin air and the blast hit a dozen sleepwalkers that had just formed behind him.

"Watch you temper Danny, the fed's might catch you," Nocturn said.

"The fed's?" Danny asked.

He turned around to find the Guys in White were running towards them. "There they are," the first Guy in White pointed out.

The second Guy in White took out a mini ecto-gun and blasted Danny on his back. The first Guy in White ran up to Danny and took out a needle filled with a bright, green liquid. He stuck the needle into Danny's neck and pressed down hard. Danny screamed in pain and felt a rush of cold air pass over his body. He had just reverted back to human form.

"It seems we were right after all," the second Guy in White said.

"You're right, I guess we won't be needing the Fenton's help anymore," the first Guy in White said.

"What?" Danny asked weakly.

"Stop! Leave Danny alone!" Maddie snapped at the Guys in White.

"Did you know about this?" the second Guy in White asked.

"Well, sort of," Maddie stuttered

"I though we told you to tell us if you found any evidence that your son was the ghost boy!" the second Guy in White snapped.

"What?!" Danny asked in shock.

"We had been noticing a strange pattern that occurred whenever the ghost boy appeared…" the second Guy in White began.

"…every time he appeared, you were gone. It couldn't have just been a coincidence…" the first Guy in White continued.

"…so we called your parents and asked them to look for evidence that proved you were Danny Phantom," the second Guy in White finished.

"So…that's what you and dad were up to, trying to find out if I was the ghost kid?" Danny asked glaring at his mother in disbelief.

"Well…yes…but…"Maddie stammered.

"Take him away boys," the first Guy in white ordered.

Several other Guys in White approached with handcuffs.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Maddie asked.

"We're taking im in for questioning," the second Guy in White answered.

"And experiments, the really_ painful_ kind of experiments," the first Guy in White added.

"You can't do that him! I won't let you!" Maddie snapped storming up to one of the Guys in White that had started handcuffing Danny.

"Stand down Mrs. Fenton, you have no say in what the government is doing!" the first Guy in white said.

"Besides, if we Danny Phantom locked up, it could possibly reduce the ghost attacks," the second Guy in White said.

"We've also noticed that the ghost boy is the number one target during most ghost attacks," the first Guy in White added.

"Take him away boys! That injection doesn't last very long, we can't have him break out before we get back to headquarters," the second Guy in White ordered.

"Wait! What about Nocturn?!" Jazz asked pointing out Nocturn was still there.

"Yes, what about me? I feel so left out, am I not good enough for you to capture?" Nocturn asked almost sarcastically.

"True. Men! Take down the ghost," the first Guy in White ordered.

A couple of Guys in White pulled out their ecto-weapons and aimed them at Nocturn. Nocturn smiled mischievously and bellowed: "Sleepwalkers! Form!"

Dozens of sleepwalkers appeared and snatched the ecto-weapons out of the Guys in white's hands. After crushing the weapons into pieces, the sleepwalkers held their arms out. Small little stars flew from their hands and into the faces of the Guys in White. The Guys in White wobbled a little and finally fell to the ground and started snoring. The sleepwalkers took out a dozen sleep helmets and stuck them on the heads of the snoring Guys in White. Danny quietly slipped away from the Guys in White as the sleepwalkers finished putting the helmets on them.

"Danny," Jazz ran over to her brother. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. When they first stuck the needle in me I could barely move, but I think I'm getting my strength back," Danny said.

He looked over his shoulder to find the ladybug had not left. Nocturn turned to see Danny and smiled evilly.

"Danny, I'm sorry, I…" Maddie started.

"Hang on mom, I'll be right back," Danny said summoning all the energy he could to return to ghost form and flew up to Nocturn.

Maddie sighed. "I didn't know they were going to hurt him, I mean, I didn't…" Maddie stammered.

"It's okay mom, I'm sure Danny will understand," Jazz said putting her hand on her mother's shoulder.

A ball of green energy formed in Danny's hand and Danny successfully blasted Nocturn on his back.

"Well, now that the fed's are out of the way, I think it's time I put my plan into action," Nocturn chortled.

"What do you mean? Putting me to sleep?" Danny asked.

"Not quit," Nocturn said.

He stretched out his hand and Danny backed up so he couldn't be touched. Apparently, Nocturn wasn't intending to actually grab him. His starry hand started glowing a dim blue color. Suddenly, Danny began to glow the same exact color.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked in shock.

"Taking you to the one place were you will not be able to stop me, no matter how hard you try," Nocturn said.

Just then, a swirling blue mist formed around the two ghosts. Danny screamed in shock and tried to fly away but he was unable to move. He was stuck.

"Danny!" Maddie and Jazz cried.

They ran towards Danny and Nocturn but it was too late. As the mist disappeared, so did Danny and Nocturn. Maddie and Jazz were left standing alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny rubbed his eyes and opened them slowly

_**Sorry for not updating in a while. I've been having a lot of ideas for this story and kinda lost track of what I was doing. That and school work ….but anyway, here's another chapter. Hope you like it! R&R with NO FLAMES please!**_

**Chapter 5: The Star Realm**

Danny rubbed his eyes and opened them slowly. He was staring up into an endless mass of darkness and twinkling stars. He put his hand to his forehead. He tried to remember what had just happened. He remembered Nocturn, and the Guys in White. And he remembered his mother, who had agreed to help to Guys in White. Of all people.

_What is she, crazy? She hates the Guys in White! Why would she help them? Maybe dad talked her into. They are his 'heroes' after all._ Danny rolled his eyes at the thought.

He pushed himself up on his elbows and noticed he was laying a floating piece of Earth. It was hard like Earth anyway, but it was gray and stony, almost like an asteroid. He looked around and saw thousands of other floating asteroids scattered all over the place. The top of every one of them were flat and smooth while the bottoms were sharp, jagged points.

"Where am I?" Danny thought aloud.

He looked around to see if his mother or sister were still with him. Unfortunately, they were no where to be found. His only company was the ladybug that was still perched on his left shoulder.

_What is with this ladybug?_ Danny wondered.

He studied the ladybug a little closer. Not only were there stars on it's shell, but the tips it's antennas were also shaped like stars.

Danny shook his head. _I must bee seeing things. _He thought.

All of a sudden, he heard the menacing cackle of Nocturn echoing throughout the starlit darkness. A rush of cool air hit Danny in the face and an array of colors blurred together finally ending up in the form of Nocturn, who continued to cackle wickedly. Danny gritted his teeth and felt his face heat up.

"Glad to see you here, Danny Phantom," Nocturn greeted in his usual dark tone.

"Where am I?" Danny asked.

"You are in the Ghost Zone or _my_ realm of the Ghost Zone at least," Nocturn answered.

"Why am I here?" Danny asked heatedly as he leaped to his feet.

"Why do you think?" Nocturn asked darkly.

"Look, I don't have time for games. Why don't you just give up now and let me kick your butt so I can go home?!" Danny snapped.

"You seem to believe defeating me will be easy. You're teenage arrogance is truly your weakest point Danny. You will not stop me," Nocturn explained.

"You think so, huh?" Danny smirked getting ready to shoot Nocturn with another blast of ecto-energy. To Danny's surprise, nothing happened. No blast of energy exploded from his hand. His hand wasn't even glowing.

Nocturn chortled. "I don't _think_ so, I _know_ so," he said. "You see Phantom, as I've said before, I control all dreams. Seeing as this is the Realm of all Dreams, I can control _anything_ here."

He held out his hand and picked Danny up by his hair. Danny yelped in pain. Flashes of color whizzed past his face. He saw the same array of colors he had seen from his previous 'dream'.

"Gah! Let go of me!" Danny snapped.

Nocturn's laugh became louder and more devious. "Begging won't do you any good Phantom! You can not escape me! You're mind is a mere puppet in my hands! You're dreams are under my control!"

"Ugh! Can't you find something better to do with your time than mess with my head?!" Danny groaned.

"Oh, but you're so much fun to mess with," Nocturn said mockingly.

Danny could fell himself becoming drowsy. His knees started weakening and felt the pull of gravity bringing him down to the ground. He tried to keep himself awake. He didn't want to fall asleep now. Nocturn gripped his hair tighter and Danny's eyes closed tightly.

Suddenly, he heard a small noise coming from somewhere to his left. Danny tried to open his eyes as hard as he could. He barely had them open when a bright light shone from somewhere over his left shoulder. Danny heard Nocturn yelp in pain and felt his starlit hand release Danny's hair.

Danny's eyes opened abruptly and he found himself standing upright. He was no longer sleepy. He looked around frantically only to find Nocturn was no where to be seen. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Danny turned to his left to see where the light came from only to see the star covered ladybug.

_That's weird…where'd that light come from? It couldn't have come from the ladybug! That's just too weird….there's no way! Right?_

Danny shook the thought away. He had no time to figure out where the light that got rid of Nocturn came from, he need to get back to his family. Automatically, his feet picked up and he ran right off the edge of the piece of asteroid, getting ready to fly. Instead, Danny fell right off the edge and continued to fall into the vast cluster of stars and blackness. The sound of Danny screaming echoed throughout the darkness. As hard as he tried, Danny couldn't get himself to fly.

"What's up with this?! Why can't I fly?!" Danny thought aloud.

His first guess was that Nocturn had something to do with this. He did say he controlled everything here. It didn't make any difference who made it so, Danny couldn't fly. Chances were he would never stop falling, and if he did there would be no way out if he couldn't use his powers.

Danny closed his eyes, hoping for what seemed like the thousandth time that he was dreaming and would wake up in his bedroom.

Just then, he heard a whizzing noise that sounded like a tiny rocket flying toward him. Before he had the chance to open his eyes, Danny felt himself being pushed by something small right into another piece of floating asteroid.

"Ow!" Danny yelped the back of his head.

He opened his eyes slightly and heard a small, squeaky voice ask: "You okay?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Atmosphere Club

**Chapter 6: The Atmosphere Club**

Danny stared awestruck at the small being the stood before him. A small little character, it looked like a small man. He had to be about the size of Danny's head. He had a pale blue face, bright blonde hair, and crystal blue eyes. He wore a pointy white hat with two stripes, one red and one blue, and the bottom near his forehead and a bright, twinkling star at the very tip. A red vest fit tightly over his white polo shirt and he wore a small blue necktie that was tie in a bow like the kind a young school girl wore. His blue belt's buckle was shaped like the letter "R" and he had on long red pants that looked as if they were a part of his shoes. His small, gloved hands fiddled nervously as he looked into Danny's eyes with concern.

"You alright?" he asked again in his squeaky voice.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Danny said rubbing his head again.

The small man sighed in relief. "That's good! I thought I broke your bones or something! My name's Rocket! Friends call me Rocky, what's yours?" he asked brightly holding out his miniature hand.

"I'm, uh, Danny," Danny said not sure if he should attempt to shake Rocky's hand for fear he might crush it.

"Danny? That's a funny name! I don't know any Danny's. What were you thinking, jumping off the asteroid like that? Especially if you can't fly!" Rocky asked worriedly.

"I can fly! I just couldn't get myself to fly for some reason…Wait, what are you doing here?" Danny asked wondering if Rocky was somehow affiliated with Nocturn.

"I live here! Well, not _right_ here, but this realm is my home," Rocky answered.

"Do you know Nocturn?" Danny asked.

"Shh!" Rocky hissed covering Danny's mouth as best as he could. "Don't say that name out loud, he might find us."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"Me and my friends are trying to _hide_ from Nocturn, he doesn't know we live here, and if he did…oh if he did….oh you don't wanna know! It would be _bad_!" Rocky said emphasizing his last word.

"Uh huh, so you're in no way affiliated with Nocturn?" Danny asked.

"No way Jose! I'm not going anywhere near that guy! You should stick with me! My buddies and I have a safe place where Nocturn never looks around," Rocky said grabbing Danny's index finger and started trying to pull him along.

"Well, I dunno, I really shouldn't be here…" Danny started.

"Exactly! You'll be safe with us," Rocky interrupted.

"No! I mean, I shouldn't be here at all! I need to get back home!" Danny said.

"Sorry Danny, but there's no way out of here, Nocturn's the only one who knows how to get in and out of this realm, you're kind of stuck here," Rocky explained.

Danny sighed. There had to be some way out. He wasn't going to stay in Nocturn's realm for the rest of his life. But he figured he might as well think about it someplace safe. "Alright, I'll stay with you and your friends for a while until I figure some way out of here," Danny agreed.

"Sweet! I love new members! C'mon!" Rocky said pulling on Danny's index finger again.

For someone so small, Rocky definitely had a lot of strength. One small yank and Danny felt himself being dragged along with the force of an elephant. Rocky's leg's suddenly formed a long, thin tail, almost the same way Danny's would when he flew at great speed, and he took off as fast as a rocket.

"WHOAA!!" Danny cried as Rocky's speed accelerated.

Danny had half a mind to scream "SLOW DOWN!" when suddenly, he felt himself hit solid ground. He looked around to find himself on what he thought could be the largest asteroid in Nocturn's realm. There were small mountains and platforms that almost resembled the surface of the moon.

"You okay there Danny?" Rocky asked lending a helping hand.

"Yeah," Danny said reaching out for Rocky's little hand.

Rocky hoisted Danny back up onto his feet and said: "Well, since you're here, I might as well introduce you to the group."

He whizzed off and Danny followed close behind him. Rocky stopped abruptly when he reached two other beings sitting on one of the rock like platforms.

"Rocky! Where have you been? You _know_ what could happen if Nocturn caught you!" snapped a girl with long green hair. Her blood red eyes glowed with rage and her icy blue lips were curled into an un-accepting frown.

"Sorry Galaxi, I was just looking around for my ball when I found this guy," Rocky explained to the girl as he motioned to Danny. "Galaxi, Aster, this is Danny, he fell off an asteroid 'cause he can't fly."

"Uh, yeah," Danny said surprised that his introduction was so straightforward.

"Hi Danny! I'm Aster," a large male greeted taking off his hat to reveal his bright blonde hair.

. He had the voice of a somewhat moronic giant but he seemed friendly enough. He had a hat that resembled Rocky's only it had an orange stripe instead of a blue one and there was a small, glowing red rock at the tip of it. He too wore a white polo shirt and a vest and pants. His vest and pants, unlike Rocky's, were orange and there was a large red "A" on his chest. He had a red neck tie, yellow belt, and yellow boots and gloves. His blue eyes looked thoughtfully into Danny's and he returned his hat to his head.

"Um, hi…Aster," Danny greeted.

"It's short for Asteroid," Rocky whispered.

Aster started to get up when he abruptly fell over. "He's a little clumsy," Rocky said rushing over to help him.

The girl put her palm to her forehead. Danny noticed there were a few glittering stars in her hair that rapped around her head like a head band. It reminded Danny a lot of Jazz's headband. She wore a long sleeve shirt that looked more like a clutter of colorful stars than a shirt. She wore a mini skirt with blue, pink, and purple colors. She wore long white go-go boots that had purple kneepads and a few other blue stars over them. Her skin was as pale blue as Rocky's and Aster's was. The annoyed look on her face gave Danny the impression she wasn't to happy to see him there.

"Well, aren't you gonna introduce yourself?" Rocky asked nudging the girl's shoulder.

"Fine, whatever," the girl groaned, her voice was bitter and sarcastic. She walked up to Danny, folded her arms, and said: "I'm Galaxi, _I'm_ the smart one."

"Or so she says," rocky added.

Galaxi pushed rocky out of her face and said: "So, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, uh, Nocturn kinda brought me here and…" Danny started.

"Uh huh, I thought so…ROCKY YOU IDIOT! You brought someone who knows Nocturn here!" Galaxi spat grabbing rocky by his collar.

"Cool down Gal, it doesn't mean he works for Nocturn," Rocky said.

"Have a little faith," Aster said putting his hand on Galaxi's shoulder.

"Ugh! Whatever! How do we know for sure we can trust this guy?" Galaxi asked annoyed.

"Because, like you guys, I don't want to have anything to do with Nocturn!" Danny answered.

Galaxi stormed up to Danny, her nose was inches away from his face. "Prove it!" Her voice was as icy as her lips.

"How?" Danny snorted.

"Let's play 20 questions!" Aster suggested.

Galaxi and rocky stared at him in utter confusion. "You know, so we know what he does and doesn't know, and stuff…" Aster said looking guilty.

"Would it matter?! How do we know he's not just some sleepwalker in disguise?" Galaxi asked wrinkling her nose.

"You can't be serious," Danny breathed to himself.

"Yes! I am!" Galaxi spat grabbing Danny by his collar.

Rocky pulled Galaxi off him and said: "Sorry about Galaxi, she's a little skeptical."

"I'm not skeptical! I just think things like this through! Unlike you two," Galaxi snapped.

Aster lowered his head shamefully. Rocky buzzed over to him and patted his boulder-sized shoulder. "It's okay Aster, she's just ticked because no guy would ever date her in a million years!" he said.

"Why you little….!" Galaxi shrieked.

Danny noticed her body start to form a swirling mist of colorful stars. He backed away slowly as the swirling mass that used to be Galaxi spun faster and faster.

"Oh man, she's mad…" Rocky said as his eyes grew in horror.

"Run Rocky run!" Aster cried sprinting for the nearest hiding spot.

Rocky started to get pulled into Galaxi's spiraling rage and spun around three or four times before being flung into a boulder.

As the spiraling colors slowed down, they started to re-form into the shape of Galaxi.

"Had enough?" she asked sourly.

"Yes," Rocky answered twitching.

"Good!" Galaxi said as she smiled for the first time. To Danny, her smile was just as cold as her frown.

"Come on Gal, he was just kidding! I'm sure a lot of guys would want to go out with you, heh," Aster said kindly, trying his best to hold back his sweat.

"Well maybe I don't want to go out with anyone," Galaxi said as her smile turned back into a frown.

"Look, I'd love to, uh, stick around, but I should probably get going, BYE!" Danny said backing away from Galaxi as quickly as possible.

"Oh no you don't!" Galaxi said grabbing Danny's arm. She gripped a lot tighter than Nocturn had.

"Alright, what do I have to do to prove that I'm not the bad guy?" Danny asked. The ladybug started crawling down Danny's shoulder and perched itself on his emblem.

"We could use to star hole," Aster suggested.

Galaxi's eyes widened and her sinister smile returned. "Great idea Aster," she said. She almost sounded sweet.

"Uh, star hole?" Danny asked.

It's a hole made if swirling stars," Rocky chimed in.

"It's also the only way to see if you're really on our side!" Galaxi said.

"Enlighten me," Danny said.

"It's simple, we're going to throw you in the star hole, if you keep falling until you end up at the bottom, you're fine, but if you pop back up out of the top, you're a bad guy," Galaxi explained as if she were talking to a five year old child who was just learning how to use the telephone.

"So you're saying if I'm the good guy you'll never see me again?" Danny asked figuring Galaxi just wanted to get rid of him.

"No, the star hole is shaped like a funnel, if you end up at the bottom, it's because you have no dream power and you'll just come out the end..."

"So you won't get hurt!" Aster said.

"Yeah…Nocturn and his sleepwalkers have dream power which pushes them back up through the funnel," Galaxi finished.

"And star bugs," Aster added.

"Yeah them too, but that's not the point," Galaxi said pulling Danny along with her. Aster took hold of Danny's other arm. As gentle as he as trying to be, his grip was still pretty tight.

"Wait! Stop! What do I do when I fall out the bottom end? I can't fly!" Danny cried.

"Don't worry Danny, there's a nice smooth asteroid at the bottom you can land on," rocky assured him.

"Well, that makes me feel loads better," Danny said sarcastically.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Galaxi said with a slight yawn.

She and Aster held Danny over the edge of the asteroid were a large spinning whirlpool of stars brightly shone in Danny's eyes. Danny gulped hoping that he would at least land on something, no matter how uncomfortable it would feel.

"Deploy in 3…"Rocky started.

"Wait…!" Danny started.

"…2…" Aster continued.

"…are you sure I'll come out of the bottom?" Danny asked.

"….1!" Galaxi finished and she and Aster threw Danny into the cyclone of stars.

Danny screamed as the small balls of light spun him around like a feather being sucked up by a vacuum. He felt himself get lower and lower into the star hole when suddenly he stopped dead center of the twister. He noticed the stars were still moving but he was still.

Suddenly, a bright light from below practically blinded him. He screamed in pain as he felt a sharp pain from his chest travel through his entire body. A sudden jolt of energy lifted him up and out of the star hole. He felt himself hit the ground hard.

"See?! I knew he was no good!" Danny heard Galaxi shriek.

"Just 'cause he came out of the star hole doesn't mean that he's working with Nocturn," came the sound of Rocky's voice.

"Are you kidding?! Just look at him! He wasn't like that before," Galaxi shrieked again.

Danny's eyes popped open. He sat up instantly and looked down at himself in awe. Galaxi was right, there was something different about his appearance. He suddenly had gleaming yellow plates shaped like stars attached to his knees and elbows and one in the middle of his belt. The ladybug crawled away from his emblem to reveal the shape of a star inside of the 'D' instead of a 'P'... His collar also looked different, it was as if the tope of a star had cut through it.

"Wha-what happened?" Danny whispered to himself.

"I knew there was some thing weird about you! I bet your name isn't even Danny," Galaxi said pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Then what is his name?" Aster asked shaking slightly.

Danny got to his feet and Rocky zoomed up to him. "Well, there's a 'D' with a star in it on his chest…let's call him Dwarf Star!" he said.

"Wha! Hey! I'm not a dwarf!" Danny snapped.

"Just saying," Rocky said.

"Ooo…shiny," Aster said tapping the shining star plate on Danny's left elbow. Danny jerked it away quickly as the lady bug crawled onto his right shoulder.

"Look, I dunno how this happened, it just did! Look, all I wanna do is go home and forget all about this," Danny explained.

"Don't we all," Galaxi said sarcastically.

"Can I just stay for a little while, then when I figure out how to get back home, I'll leave?" Danny asked.

Galaxi glared at him noticing that Aster and Rocky were standing right behind him, giving her the big eyed, boo-boo lipped "Can We Keep him" look. She rolled her eyes and said: "Fine! But you better not give me a reason to not trust you."

Aster and rocky cheered. "Welcome to the Atmosphere Club Danny!" Rocky said shaking Danny's index finger.

_**Gawd…I hate doing outfit descriptions, they that too long and I stink at them…well, sooner or later I'll put up a picture with these new characters so you guys know what they look like (trust me, I draw better than I write, seriously!) Well, hope you liked this chapter! R&R with NO FLAMES please!**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Discussions

_**Hi everyone! Sorry for not updating in a while, thought I'd take some time off from this story to relax after finals (which are evil by the way). So anyway, here's a new chapter. This time, you get to see Maddie and Jazz again (yay!). Also, quick note, everything in italics is a memory, just thought I'd tell you so you know what's going on. Well, enjoy. R&R with NO FLAMES please!**_

**Chapter 7: Discussions**

Maddie and Jazz sat crossed legged on the cold, wet grass in complete silence. They didn't know precisely where they were or where Danny had gone. Suddenly, Jazz broke the silence by asking: "What should we do?"

Maddie sighed. "I don't know. What can we do? We don't know where Danny is, and even if we did how would we find him?"

Jazz put her logical mind to work. She looked around to see every Guy in White was still fast asleep. Her attention was quickly drawn to a white van. She got to her feet and started pick-pocketing the Guys in White.

"Jasmine! What are you doing?" Maddie asked in shock.

"I have an idea," Jazz said as she pulled a ring of keys out of one of the Guys in White's pockets. "We'll take the guys in White's van back to Fenton's Works and use the Boooo-merang and Specter Speeder to go into the Ghost Zone and find Danny!"

"But what if Danny isn't even in the Ghost Zone?" Maddie asked.

"From what Danny's told me, there are a bunch of hidden portals in the Ghost Zone. I'm guessing that a portal to the place the Nocturn took Danny will open somewhere in the Ghost Zone and we can follow the Boooo-merang through it," jazz explained.

"Great idea honey," Maddie applauded her brilliant daughter.

The two of the hopped into the white van and Maddie started the engine. The van backed out into the street and zoomed down the road. After about a minute, Jazz suddenly asked: "Mom? Why were you working for the Guys in White?"

Maddie took a deep breath. "I don't really want to talk about it…" she answered.

"Come on mom. You can tell me," Jazz assured her mother.

"Alright….you might as well know…" Maddie said as she began to reminisce what had happened between her and the Guys in White.

_It was a sunny Saturday morning. Jack and Maddie had the house to themselves since their daughter was at the library and their son had gone some where with his friends. Maddie was tinkering with the Ecto-Stopo-Powero Fire while Jack was looking over some blueprints._

"_Now I'm pretty sure that if we re-wire this thing it should work properly," Jack said as her spread the blueprints out on the table. Little did he know it already worked fine but something in his gut told him there was a mistake._

"_I could've sworn it was just fine, are you sure there's a mistake?" Maddie asked._

"_Well, it didn't seem to have any effect on that Phantom kid when he got blasted with it the last time," Jack explained still oblivious to the fact it had wiped out the ghost boys powers._

"_Well, if you say so hun," Maddie said as she started re-wiring the machine._

_Just then, there was a loud crash and the Guys in White burst through the ceiling. "Hey! It's the Guys in White! Can I have your autograph?" Jack asked whipping out a pad of paper and a pen._

"_Jack!" Maddie snapped._

"_Uh, I mean, what are you doing here?" Jack asked rapidly switching his excitement to rage._

"_We're here to ask for your help in a major ghost hunting expedition," the first Guy in White answered._

"_One that involves the notorious ghost punk, Danny Phantom," the second Guy in White added._

"_What do you think we're already busy doing" Maddie spat._

"_We know, but we have vital information that concerns you two the most," the first Guy in White said._

"_What kind of information?" Jack asked._

"_Have you ever noticed how your son usually disappears when the ghost boy attacks?" the second Guy in White asked._

"_Hmm…guess I never really though about it…"Jack said starting think._

"_Or how their names sound remarkably similar?" the second Guy in White asked._

"_Danny Phantom? Danny Fenton?! It can't be just a coincidence," the first Guy in White said._

"_What are you implying?" Maddie asked._

"_We're implying that your son is the ghost boy!" the second Guy in White said._

_Jack and Maddie gasped. "But- that's impossible! Our son is not a filthy, putrid mass of ectoplasm!" Jack snapped._

"_Then explain how they look so similar," the first guy in white said as he pulled a picture of Danny Fenton and one of Danny Phantom out of his coat pocket. _

"_Take note of the hairstyle, the facial features, that quirky grin on his face," the second guy in White pointed out._

"_But…there's just no way! Danny's nothing like the ghost boy!" Maddie protested._

"_Think about it, did anything happen to your son before the ghost boy showed up? Has he ever been exposed to any kind of ghostly radiation?" the first Guy in White asked._

"_Well, there was an accident when Danny went into the ghost portal…" Maddie remember._

"_That's probably it," the second guy in White said._

"_No! You're making a mistake! Danny can't be the ghost boy!" Maddie shrieked._

"_Yeah! How do we know you're not just playing some trick on us?" Jack asked._

"_Mr. Fenton, we work for the government," the second Guy in White said._

"_We don't just barge in like this to play a practical joke. This is serious business," the first Guy in White said._

"_True," Jack said._

"_Then it's settled, you'll find evidence that your son is the ghost boy, and once you find it, you'll give us a call," the first Guy in White said handing Maddie a card with the words: 'Guys in White' written in big black letters and a phone number underneath it._

"_No! Nothing's settled!" Maddie said pushing the fist guy in white's hand away._

"_Mrs. Fenton, it's important that the government find out if your son is the ghost boy or not!" the first Guy in White said._

"_And what exactly are you gonna do if we don't agree to this?" Jack asked._

"_We'll audit your tax payments," the second Guy in White said._

"_Heh! Alright then, Maddie, we should listen to the nice Guys in White," Jack said starting to sweat as he took the card from the first Guy in White._

_Maddie crossed her arms. "I just can't understand how our sweet little boy could be that ruthless Danny Phantom," she said almost breathlessly._

"_We'll be expecting a call," the first Guy in White said._

"_Good day Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," the second guy in White said as the two agents left the lab._

"So your father and I decided we'd check the video tape from op-center after you two went to bed to see for sure, but we did it down in the lab so we wouldn't wake you up," Maddie concluded her story.

"So, did you see anything suspicious?" Jazz asked.

"No…Danny was going about his usual business, he was acting pretty normal, then again, we didn't see any ghost attacks until that Nocturn ghost came around." Maddie said.

Jazz leaned back in her seat. There was an awkward silence for a short period of time before Jazz finally said: "do you think Danny's okay?"

"I hope so," Maddie said softly.

Meanwhile, Danny was busy talking with Rocky, Aster, and Galaxi. "So, why do you call yourselves the Atmosphere Club?" Danny asked.

"We needed a cool name," Rocky answered.

"Yeah, 'cause Atmosphere Club just reeks of coolness," Galaxi said sarcastically.

"Well what would you suggest Princess?" rocky asked.

"D owe really need a name for ourselves? No one except Dwarf Star over here knows about us," Galaxi spat pointing to Danny.

"Okay, could you stop with the 'Dwarf Star' thing?" Danny snapped.

"Whatever," Galaxi said folding her arms.

"So, where'd you come from?" Aster asked.

"Amity Park," Danny said.

"Isn't that where Danny Phantom lives?" Rocky asked.

"Uh, yeah, I _am_ Danny Phantom," Danny said.

Rocky and Aster gapped at Danny in awe but Galaxi threw her head back and laughed. "You're really something, you know that? Do you really expect us to believe _you're_ Danny Phantom?" she asked.

"Yeah! I mean, if you know about me you should know what I look like!" Danny said.

"We've never seen him before, but we heard Nocturn ranting and raving about someone named Danny Phantom who defeated him," rocky said.

"He must be really powerful," Aster said.

"Eh! He wasn't even really that much of a threat. And besides, my friends helped me for the most part," Danny said modestly.

"So you really are Danny Phantom?" Aster asked.

"Yep," Danny said smiling. The ladybug was crawling up and down his arm as the conversation went on.

"That's awesome! And this is more convenient for Galaxi," rocky said.

"Uh, how exactly?" Danny asked thinking he meant Galaxi could easily bit his head off.

"She has a crush on you," Rocky said.

"I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM!" Galaxi shrieked as her eyes blazed menacingly. "I just think he could help us defeat Nocturn! And besides, there's no way _this_ guy is Danny Phantom!"

"I am! I swear! What do I have to do to prove it to you?" Danny asked.

"Show us one of your powers," Galaxi said.

"Maybe that one with the ice," Aster suggested.

"Uh, I would but…uh…I kinda can't use my powers. I think Nocturn did something to take them away," Danny said truthfully.

"Yeah, uh huh, likely story," Galaxi said.

"I'm serious! Geez! What is your problem with me?!" Danny snapped.

"She's a girl….what do you expect?" Rocky asked.

Galaxi hit Rocky over the head.

"You can never take a joke, can you?" Rocky asked.

"Whatever, anyway, my problem with him is that he's a liar," Galaxi scoffed.

"I AM NOT A LIAR!" Danny shouted throwing his arms in the air. All of a sudden, his hands began to glow a bright yellow and clusters of stars spiraled around them. As Danny brought his arms down, the stars came with him, smashing through the ground creating a large crater.

"Whoa!" Rocky and Aster gawked.

"What the-?!" Danny looked at his hands which were still glowing.

"How'd you do that?!" Galaxi snapped.

"I-I dunno! You were getting on my nerves and it just…happened…" Danny said not taking his eyes off his hands.

"Oh, _I_ was getting on your nerves?!" Galaxi hissed.

"She does quit often," Rocky whispered to Aster and Danny.

Galaxi put her hands on her hips and glared at Danny. "So, you don't know how that happened?" she asked.

"Nope," Danny said.

"Well, it would explain how you came out of the star hole," Aster said studying the glow that was slowly disappearing from Danny's hands.

"Maybe it's some weird side effect from being here. I know I've never done that before," Danny said thoughtfully.

Galaxi rolled her eyes and started walking over to the edge of the asteroid. "I'm surrounded by freaks," she hissed to herself.

"Is she normally this…uh…" Danny started.

"Annoying? Obnoxious?" Rocky suggested.

"Uptight? Kinda snotty?" Aster chimed in.

"Yeah," Danny said.

"Pretty much, why?" Rocky asked.

"I dunno. She just doesn't seem to like anyone or anything," Danny said folding his arms as the glow around his hands disappeared completely.

""You can probably blame Nocturn for that," Rocky said.

"What'd he do to her? I though he didn't know you guys were here?" Danny asked.

"He doesn't, but he caught her family. And ours as well," Aster said.

"What'd he do to them?" Danny asked sounding worried.

"He drove them out of this realm," Aster answered.

"We dunno where they are, so we stuck around here to keep as far away from his house as possible," Rocky said looking off into the distance.

Danny didn't say anything for a while. He didn't know what to say. What could he say anyway? After a long silence, Danny finally said: "So….you've never seen Nocturn?"

"No, we have. He's just never seen us. His sleepwalkers almost caught us earlier today," Rocky said.

"It was scary," Aster shivered.

"What happened?" Danny asked.

"We were playing Star Ball over there somewhere…" Rocky began pointing to a big empty space where very few stars sat. "…and all of a sudden, we heard some weird moaning sound. Suddenly, this BIG swarm of sleepwalkers showed up!"

"There had to be at least ten of them!" Aster said holding up seven fingers.

"That doesn't sound like much," Danny said.

"It is when Nocturn's busy absorbing dreams making him _and THEM_ stronger!" rocky said.

"How'd you get away?" Danny asked.

"We dropped the ball and fly away as fast as we could!" Rocky cried. "After the sleepwalkers left, I went to go find the ball, since I'm the smallest and the fastest, and then I saw you jumping of one of the asteroids and now you're here."

"Interesting," Danny said arching an eyebrow.

"Yep," Rocky said.

The ladybug scuttled across Danny's collar. "What's that?!" Aster asked jumping a little.

"Oh, this? It's just a little ladybug that won't leave me alone for some reason," Danny said as he watched the ladybug pick up speed as it crawled around his collar for a second time.

"Huh? Weird," Rocky said.

Just then, from out of no where, Galaxi ran up behind them and screamed: "GET DOWN!"

She pushed them behind a rock and crouched down. "What are you…?" Danny started.

Galaxi covered his mouth and whispered harshly: "Quiet! They'll hear you!"

"Who?" Danny asked carefully peering over the rock to see three or four sleepwalkers lad on the asteroid. Behind them was Nocturn. "Search the asteroid! Leave no stone unturned! I _will_ find you Danny Phantom!" he hissed.

_**-laughs manically- Those of you who've read some of my other stories know how much I LOVE making evil cliffhangers. –gets sharp objects pelted at her- Well, don't worry, I'll get started on the next chapter soon. R& with NO FLAMES please. –runs from sharp flying objects-**_


	8. Chapter 8

Danny gasped and ducked back behind the rock

_**Finally! An update!! Not that it was all that long ago but still…Well, I kinda like the way this chapter turned out but the ending could've turned out a bit better in my opinion…it felt kinda rushed….Well, enjoy! R&R with NO FLAMES please!**_

**Chapter 8: Ultimate Game of Hide and Seek**

Danny gasped and ducked back behind the rock. Aster clung to Galaxi's arm and whimpered softly. Rocky pressed his back against the rock and started shivering. Galaxi, for the first time Danny had seen, looked absolutely horrified.

The sleepwalkers searched all over the asteroid. The turned over every stone, looked behind almost every bolder, and looked into the crater that Danny had accidentally made. Slowly, they approached the rock that the four worried ghosts cowered behind.

"Wha-what are we gonna do, Galaxi?" Aster asked softly.

"I don't know," Galaxi answered as quietly as she could.

Danny noticed that they were extremely close to the edge of the asteroid. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do, we're gonna jump," he said.

"Jump? Are you nuts?" Galaxi hissed.

"It's our best chance of getting away before they see us. Just lay low," Danny said sliding onto his back. Rocky and Aster followed his lead. Galaxi reluctantly slid down with them. Once they reached the edge, the pushed themselves off and started falling down into the endless starry sky. Rocky tried to fly but he could barely move.

"I think Nocturn's draining our energy so we can't get away," Rocky said. "I can't get myself to fly."

"Keep trying!" Galaxi cried. "We're about to hit another asteroid!"

Danny looked down to see a small, jagged asteroid. He yelped and covered himself with his arms. Just then, strings of stars started to spin around the foursome, causing them to clump together before they could reach the steroid. Danny opened his eyes to find that they had been compressed together by stars and darkness.

"What just happened?" Galaxi asked as Danny's elbow accidentally pushed her into Aster's face.

"I dunno," Danny said. He had a good feeling he was the one that cause it though.

He squinted to try and see through the night sky cover. He could faintly see a sleepwalker through the blackness which made his vision a little blurry.

"Where did that noise come from?" he heard Nocturn bark. Danny saw Nocturn stick his head out over the asteroid to stare down at him. Sweating, Danny's eyes widened and he tried to back up, accidentally shoving Rocky into Galaxi's ear.

"Watch it!" Galaxi spat.

"Sorry," Danny apologized.

He looked back up to see Nocturn who was still staring down at him. "Hmmmm….it's just a cluster of stars. I could have sworn I heard Phantom though. Keep searching!" he ordered his sleepwalkers.

The sleepwalkers flew down towards the clump of stars covering Danny and the Atmosphere Club members, who huddled closer together as they did. Aster started whimpering again. Rocky stretched his arm as far as he could to cover Aster's mouth then put his index finger to his lips and whispered: "Shh!" The sleepwalkers flew right past them and Nocturn swept down to them, his nose an inch away from Danny's. Danny held his breath and bit his lip as Nocturn's ruby eyes stared straight through him.

"I'll find you Phantom, you can't hide from me forever," Nocturn muttered looking slightly over Danny's head and flew away.

Danny let out a long sigh of relief and watched as Nocturn disappeared into the darkness. The black starry cover started to dissipate and the four ghosts were suddenly visible.

"Ugh! That was close," Galaxi gasped.

"What are we gonna do now? He'll find us eventually, and then…who knows what?!" Aster said shakily.

"Well, Nocturn and the sleepwalker's went that way…" Danny said pointing in the direction Nocturn and his sleepwalkers flew in. "So I say we go _that_ way." He pointed in the opposite direction.

"And what do we do when they look _over there_?!" Galaxi retorted.

"We'll leave," Danny said.

"I have to say, even though we could be in deep do-do, this is pretty exciting! It's like a wild goose chase!" Rocky said.

"What is this to you guys?! A game of hide and seek?! Nocturn could probably catch us any second now!" Galaxi fumed.

"Yeah, but we have Dwarf Star to protect us," Rocky said pointing to Danny.

"Will you guys _PLEASE_ stop calling me that?!" Danny snapped.

"Sorry," Rocky apologized.

"How can _he_ help us?!" Galaxi retorted.

"He just saved us from getting caught," Aster pointed out. "I have faith in him."

"I kinda don't know how I did that though," Danny said truthfully.

"See?" Galaxi said.

"Gal, you have serious issues," Rocky said.

Galaxi rolled her eyes and said: "Whatever. We'll go with Dwarfy's plan and see if anything happens." She turned to stare Danny right in the eyes. "but if we get caught, I'll be blaming you for this!"

"Fine!" Danny said. And with that, the Atmosphere Club took off for the opposite direction.

About what seemed like an hour later, they ended up landing on an asteroid about two times the size of the last one they had stayed at.

"This should be good. Big, lots of boulders to hide behind, some stones to sit on," Rocky said observing the asteroid. He floated over a stone for a while then lowered himself to sit down on it.

"This looks like a good bed," Aster said laying down on what seemed like a long marble plank.

Danny leaned on a boulder and watched the ladybug crawl up and down his right arm. Galaxi looked around with a concerned look on her face.

"Something about this place doesn't feel right," she said to herself.

"Does anything sound like a good idea to you?" Danny asked, obviously hearing her.

Galaxi shot him an angry glare and walked away. Danny narrowed his eyes on her and followed close behind. The ladybug finally decided it was tired of crawling all over Danny's arms, spread it's wings, and flew a couple of inches above Danny's head. Galaxi stopped a few feet away from the edge of the asteroid and stared out into the distance. Danny stopped beside her, folded his arms, and asked in a bored tone: "Hey."

"What?" Galaxi sneered, not bothering to look at him.

"What's up with you? You act like you hate pretty much everything," Danny said glaring at her as if he was trying to read her mind.

"I don't hate everything," Galaxi said simply turning her head to the opposite side of Danny.

"Then why do you act the way you do?" Danny asked.

"How would _you_ act if someone took your family away from you and you were stuck with the ditsy duo?!" Galaxi snapped finally staring Danny down with her fiery eyes.

"Geez, you don't have to have to get on their case!" Danny said knowing Galaxi was referring to Rocky and Aster.

"Listen buster! I know you don't like me! But you don't know what I've been through!" Galaxi sneered.

"What?! You mean losing your family?! Well believe it or not, I almost did!" Danny retorted remembering the events of the C.A.T. test.

"Yeah, _almost_," Galaxi said turning away from Danny.

"Alright, fine! If you don't wanna talk to me, that's alright! Because I don't need to deal with this," Danny said.

"Great, 'cause I don't feel like talking to you," Galaxi said still not looking his way.

"Fine!" Danny said walking away.

"FINE!" Galaxi called after him. She turned around to see him walking away and felt her face start to burn. She took a deep, stifled breath and turned back to look out into the darkness.

"Man, she's probably the most annoying person I've ever met!" Danny muttered to himself.

The ladybug flew to his side. "I guess I can kind of understand. I mean, it's not easy, losing the people you care about," Danny said as he sat down on a rock. The ladybug flew closer to him, almost as if it were listening to him. "But that doesn't mean she has to be a jerk about it!" Danny pointed out.

The ladybug remained in it's same position in front of his face. Danny took a deep breath and looked over in Galaxi's direction. She was still standing near the edge of the asteroid with her back turned to him. Danny stood up and walked over to Aster and Rocky who were still in the same places they were before Danny talked to Galaxi. The ladybug followed close behind.

"Hey, Danny! What were you and Gal talking about? You guys looked pretty mad at each other," Rocky said.

Danny cringed. His conversation with Galaxi was the last thing he wanted to talk about. "Nothing, she was just being a…" he started.

"Hey Danny!" Aster called. He had just woken up from a short nap.

"Hey Aster," Danny said.

Aster walked clumsily over to his friends. "So, what are you guys talking about?" he asked.

"Eh, Galaxi's being whiny again. She really just needs to let it go," Rocky said.

"Was she close to her family?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, we all were close to our families," Rocky said.

"Why's she the only one taking it so hard?" Danny asked.

"Probably 'cause she hates us," Rocky said. "I mean, we're her friends, but I guess when you have to spend all your time with friends, it can get kinda aggravating."

"Hmm…makes sense I guess. I wish she'd just calm down for a few seconds though," Danny said looking over his shoulder to see she was still in the same position as before.

"She calms down eventually, you just have to leave her alone long enough," Rocky said.

Danny shrugged and sighed. "So, what do you guys do in your spare time?" he asked finally sitting down.

"Well, usually we play Star Ball, but we still dunno where the ball is," Rocky said floating off his seat.

"We could play 'Simon Says'," Aster suggested. "Or maybe 'Hide and Seek'."

"'Hide and Seek' sounds fun," Rocky said.

"Heh, okay," Danny agreed.

"Okay, Danny's it!" Rocky announced.

"Start counting!" Aster said excitedly and he and Rocky took off.

Danny smirked, covered his eyes, and started counting. "One… two… three… four…. five… six…. seven… eight…. nine… ten! Ready or not, here I come!"

Danny started to search around for Aster and Rocky.

_Aster shouldn't be too hard to find,_ he thought. _Unless of course he hide behind something HUGE! Rocky might be hard to find though._

Meanwhile, Galaxi was sitting on a rock, watching Danny walk around the asteroid.

"There's no way that guy is Danny Phantom!" she thought aloud. "He probably doesn't even know who the _real_ Danny Phantom is."

She continued to watch Danny search for Aster and Rocky. Galaxi had seen where the two had hidden, in fact, they were in plain site. Rocky was hiding behind the rock he had been using for a chair and Aster was hiding behind a boulder that was roughly a third his actual size.

Danny was about an inch form where Aster was hiding and was about to catch him when he suddenly turned his attention a cracked piece of metal. Aster slowly peered around the boulder to see if Danny was close. Danny bent down to pick up the piece of metal and cocked his head to the side. "Hey Aster," he said.

"Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't find me!" Aster pouted.

"No, really, look at this," Danny said showing Aster the metal.

Rocky floated away from his hiding place. "Uh, do I win?" he asked.

"Rocky, come look at this," Danny called.

Rocky flew up to Danny and Aster and looked at the piece of metal. There was a broken, blue light bulb sticking out of the top. "What is it?" Rocky asked.

"It looks like part of Nocturn's dream helmets," Danny said.

Hearing this, Galaxi sprang up from her seat and walked over to Danny at the speed of light. "Wonder what it's doing here?" Aster wondered.

"Maybe Nocturn put someone to sleep around here and they woke up," Rocky suggested. "Or maybe this was a proto type that got thrown away."

"Then how would it end up here if it belonged to Nocturn?" Galaxi spat.

"It was just a suggestion," Rocky said defensively.

Danny closed his eyes and thought quickly about what rocky had said. His eyes shot open and he bolted to the farthest edge of the asteroid. "Where are you going?!" Galaxi called after him.

She, Aster, and rocky bolted after him to see where he was headed. They skidded to a halt a foot away from where Danny had stopped, looks of sheer horror stretch across their faces. Far less then a yard away was the glowing, purple, gothic castle that belonged to none other then Nocturn.

_**Fear the cliffhanger! –laughs maniacally- But I'll get working on the next chapter soon…not right away because I'm in the process of writing an AU(alternate universe) DP story…I kinda wanted to get that started so I wouldn't get too far behind on it when it actually gets put up. Well anyway, like I said, I think I could've written the ending better but oh well. It'll have to suffice! Hope you don't mind R&R with NO FLAMES please!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**And low! A new chapter has arrived! –phew- FINALLY! I've been WAY too preoccupied with other stories lately! Well, enjoy! R&R w/NO FLAMES please!**_

**Chapter 9: Hardcore Lessons**

"Great! Out of all the places we could've hidden, you had to choose an asteroid right next to Nocturn's house! Wait to go, genius," Galaxi ragged, punching Danny in the arm.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?!" Danny snapped.

"Are we gonna get caught?" Aster asked shakily.

"We're not gonna get caught!" Danny said.

"Oh, really? Do you have a plan to get us out of this, Dwarfy?" Galaxi asked sarcastically.

"Well, not exactly….but I'll figure something out," Danny assured her.

"How?! You can't even control your powers!" Galaxi shrieked. Something in her voice sounded surprisingly concerned.

"They seem to start up whenever I need them to," Danny protested.

"We can't just rely on luck, you idiot!" Galaxi snapped. "You need to learn to control them."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Danny asked, folding his arms.

Galaxi narrowed her blood red eyes on Danny. Suddenly, without any warning Galaxi whipped her arm around, as if she was throwing a baseball, and smacked Danny right across the torso with a stream of stars. Danny flew backward and fell flat on his back. He gasped for breath and held his aching stomach.

"Gal! What are you doing?!" Rocky gasped.

Galaxi sent another group of stars straight at Danny. The stars formed some kind of rope and rapped around Danny's waist.

"Gah! Let go of me! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Danny screamed.

"Surprise attack!" Galaxi shouted.

She grabbed the star rope and yanked on it as hard as she could. The force of the rope pulled Danny upright to so he was standing on his feet. Galaxi started to spin around wildly, pulling Danny along with her.

"Gah! Let….me…..GO!" Danny cried.

His hand began to glow an eerie yellow and he swiftly sliced through the rope of stars. He snatched the end of it and began to pull. Galaxi felt the rope straining against her. She tried pulling on it but accidentally fell over, letting go of the rope. Danny flew down to her side and dropped the rope of stars to her feet. The rope dissolved into the blackened sky and Danny glared at her.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me?!" he asked angrily.

Galaxi's icy blue lips curled into a menacing smile. "I'm just messing with you," she smirked.

"What?" Danny asked.

Galaxi stood up and began spinning around like a ballerina. He body was suddenly replaced with glittering stars of all different colors. Danny felt himself being sucked into the spinning mass of stars that used to be Galaxi. He tried his hardest to stand his ground but the force was to strong.

_Maybe…if I could just…_ Danny strained to think.

He held out his hand and grabbed a string of stars. He pulled on it and felt something heavy swoop by him. The string he was holding was a lock of Galaxi's hair. As Galaxi reassembled her original form, she slapped Danny's hand away and rubbed a spot on her head where the lock was attached.

"Seriously! What are you doing?!" Danny asked in a stressed tone.

"Yeah Gal, you can't possibly hate him that much," Rocky said flying up to them.

"You're not gonna hurt him, right?" Aster asked worriedly.

"I'm making sure he's prepared for any surprise attack. And he passed," Galaxi stated smiling.

"What?!" Danny asked in shock.

"I'm gonna help you get control over your star power," Galaxi explained.

"What?! You're gonna help me?" Danny asked in even more shock then he had been before.

"Yes," Galaxi said.

After a few seconds, Danny threw his head back and laughed. "HA! There's no way you'd help me!" he laughed.

Irritated, Galaxi struck Danny across the face with another string of stars. "So you're not my favorite person in the world, big deal! If you say you can help us, so be it! But you're gonna need to know what you're doing to do that," Galaxi explained harshly.

Danny rubbed his face and said: "Fine."

"Good….now think fast!" Galaxi said striking another starry blow at Danny.

Danny fell over and pushed himself up quickly. "How can you do that?!"

"You'll find I can be pretty powerful," Galaxi said attacking once again.

Danny quickly dodged the attack. "Than why don't you just go up against Nocturn yourself?" Danny asked.

"Because I'm not stupid!" Galaxi answered.

She threw her arm up in the arm and brought it down with all the force she could. A tidal wave of stars descended for Danny. Thinking quickly, Danny imitated the motion Galaxi had just done. A smaller tidal wave shot after Galaxi. The waves collided and smashed at the impact.

"You sure? You see, pretty stupid to me!" Danny taunted. He had been wanted to say something snappy back at her for a while. He wasn't going to take any smack from a bossy girl.

"Ohh, he got you there, Gal!" Rocky chortled.

Ignoring what Rocky and Danny had said, Galaxi wheeled onto her friends and ordered: "Rocky! Attack him from that side! Aster! Get him from the back! But don't do it just yet! Wait until he's off guard!"

Rocky and Aster did as they were told. "Are you sure this is going to help me? It seems more like you're just trying to kill me…" Danny said.

"It will, I need to find your week points first off. Then I can help you out….and besides…it's fun to annoy you," Galaxi smirked.

"Funny," Danny scoffed.

"Look out below!" whizzed Rocky's voice as he rocketed past Danny's face at the speed of lightning.

Danny jumped back and watched Rocky zoomed past him. It was as if he had turned into some sort of mini-rocket.

"Try and catch me!" Rocky challenged.

Danny cracked his knuckles and thought for a second. He held out his hand. Stars began to form around it and began to glow the same eerie yellow it had before. When he was certain Rocky was within his line of fire, Danny blasted. Rocky was struck with a bolt of star light and began reeling for Galaxi. Galaxi merely pushed Rocky out of the way and threw him into a bolder behind her.

Rocky cringed. "I'm okay!" he called.

"Sorry!" Danny called.

"It's all good!" Rocky called.

"Look out belooooooow!" Danny turned around to see Aster jump of the tallest boulder in the whole asteroid. Aster curled up into a ball and suddenly took the form of a blazing asteroid.

Danny gasped tried to make a shield out of the stars. But nothing happened. "What the…?! Come on! Come on!" Danny snapped. But still, nothing happened.

The next thing Danny knew was that Aster had fallen right on top of him. Danny was pummeled into the rocky surface face first. Debris scrapped against Danny's face, causing him to cringe. "I'm sorry Danny! I was trying to not hit you!" Aster apologized.

"It's okay, Aster," Danny mumbled holding out a thumbs-up.

Danny could hear Galaxi laughing hysterically a few feet away from him. He twitched angrily. The ladybug flapped it's wings violently and zoomed over to Danny's shoulder.

"Hold on, I'll get off you!" Aster said trying to push himself off of Danny, only winding up tumbling over his own feet and landing right on top of Danny once again.

Danny tried to push Aster off of him himself, but Aster was too heavy. "Okay, maybe if we both try to push you up…" Danny suggested.

"Okay," Aster said.

They both tried and failed. The ladybug crawled up Danny's shoulder to save itself from being smushed.

"Ha! You guys are pathetic!" Galaxi teased.

Danny growled quietly. Something erupted from inside him, strangely starting somewhere near his shoulders. His usual white aura glowed the same eerie yellow that his stars had originally. He effortlessly threw Aster off of him and blasted Galaxi with a blast of stars almost similar to his usual ectoblast.

Galaxi flew back into the boulder Rocky was still stuck to. "Oh, you boyfriend just hit you! Are you gonna take that?" Rocky teased.

"Shutuphe'snotmyboyfriend…" Galaxi hissed not pausing between words.

Danny smiled and sent another blast her way. Galaxi jumped out of the way and started running around Danny in circles. She moved so fast, she literally became a blur of colors Danny felt himself begin to spin out of control. He was getting dizzy and couldn't see or think of what he was doing. He concentrated hard and held out his arms. He began to glow brighter and brighter until suddenly, the light erupted off of him, hitting Galaxi in the side. Galaxi was sent flying off to the side and skidded to a halt. Danny fell to his knees, panting for breath. Galaxi cocked an eyebrow. "You're one strange kid, Dwarfy," she muttered.

- - - -

Maddie pulled up to Fenton Works. "Okay, let's go," she said.

She and Jazz hopped out of the Guys in White's van and rushed inside. The house was dead silent and Jack still lay sleeping on the floor.

"Oh, Jack," Maddie sighed sadly.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Jazz assured.

The two Fenton women ran into the basement. "Alright, so we'll use the Specter Speeder to look for Danny in the Ghost Zone," Jazz explained.

"But how are we going to find him?" Maddie asked.

Jazz picked up the Boo-merang of the counter. "The 'Boo-merang'?" Maddie asked.

"It's keyed into Danny's ectoplasmic signature. All we have to do is tell it to find Danny and we'll just follow it through the Ghost Zone," Jazz explained.

"Are you sure it'll work?" Maddie asked in concern.

"Hasn't failed yet," Jazz smiled.

"Well, alright, hop in," Maddie said as she jumped into the Specter Speeder.

Jazz hopped in after her mother and the Speeder rocketed through the Fenton Ghost Portal. Jazz opened the Speeder's door and ordered: "find Danny!"

She flung the Boo-merang into the abyss of green and black and it whirled off.

"Okay! Now just follow it!" Jazz said.

Maddie pushed forward on the handles and the Speeder speed off after the Boo-merang.

- - - -

Danny fell over. He and Galaxi had been, as Rocky so cleverly named it, 'star sparing' for the past hour or so. He had been doing decently, until just now.

"Come on! You can do better then that! Heck!! My _grandmother_ can do better than that!" Galaxi jeered.

"Hey! You didn't let me get ready!" Danny protested.

"Will _Nocturn_ let you 'get ready'? I don't think so! Now get up and actually try!" Galaxi ordered.

Danny rolled his eyes and got back up. Rocky, Aster and the ladybug watched the two ghosts battle each other.

"Danny's getting better," Aster complimented.

"Yeah, he is," Rocky agreed. "Oh! Galaxi just caught him in a headlock!"

"Hey! Let go of me!" Danny laughed as Galaxi pushed him to the ground.

"Come on, loser! Try to push me off!" Galaxi jeered playfully.

"It looks more like they're playing rather than fighting," Aster pointed out.

"Galaxi and Danny, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N…OW!!!" Rocky felt himself blown back by one of Galaxi's star blasts.

Galaxi shoved Danny into the ground. "Come on! You can beat me!" she cried.

Danny twitched. He tried to gather up all his strength but it wasn't enough to push Galaxi's foot off of him. Galaxi sighed. "Fine. Take a break," she said rolled Danny over on his back with her foot and walking off.

"You were doing great Danny," Aster complimented, rushing to Danny's aid.

"Thanks Aster," Danny said weakly as Aster hoisted Danny off the ground.

The ladybug flew up to Danny and perched itself on his right shoulder. Aster pulled out a hanker chief and began wiping some dust and debris off of Danny's face and suit.

"Galaxi's quite the tricky one, dontcha think Aster?" Rocky asked slyly.

"What do you mean?" Aster asked.

"I mean, she just _happens_ to decide to help Danny and she just _happens_ to look happy," Rocky explained.

"What are you getting at?" Danny asked.

"Come on, Danny! She's totally doing this as an excuse to be close to you!" Rocky said.

"Pff, yeah right! She hates me remember?" Danny asked, brushing off a large chunk of debris on his right arm. The ladybug scuttled away from his hand.

"She doesn't hate you," Aster said.

"She just likes bossing people around… a lot," Rocky added.

Danny smirked. Galaxi was pretty demanding.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of energy and immediately stood up-right. "Well, time to go take her down!"

"Wow, he sure recovered fast," Rocky said in astonishment as Danny walked off.

"So, is baby finished with his break?" Galaxi asked in a mocking baby voice.

"Yep. Is the other baby finished with her's?" Danny mocked.

Galaxi wrinkled her nose as punched Danny in the arm. Danny laughed. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

"Heh, yeah. Sure you were," Galaxi muttered.

Danny cracked his knuckles and waited for Galaxi to attack. Instead, Galaxi folded her arms and said: "Show me how far you can blast."

Slightly confused, Danny did as he was told. He wheeled his arm around and chucked a beam of stars across the asteroid like a baseball. It didn't get very far. Galaxi shook her head.

"You're doing it wrong," she said.

"How am I doing it wrong? This is always how I blast!" Danny protested.

"Not really. You usually do it like this," Galaxi demonstrated throwing a blast as if she were punching through something.

Realizing that _was _how he normally did it, Danny hung his head slightly: "Oh… yeah… guess I wasn't really paying much attention."

"Well start paying attention!" Galaxi snapped.

Danny sighed. He tried the blast again and it went slightly farther then before. "You're still not doing it right," Galaxi said.

"I did it the way I usually do it!" Danny protested.

"Yes, but it didn't go far enough!" Galaxi said pointing off into the distance.

"Well, would a star blast _need_ to go that far?" Danny asked irritantly.

"Yes! Because if Nocturn's far away from you and he's about to attack, you'll need to be able to stop him!" Galaxi pointed out harshly.

Danny sighed again. He had been trying to keep a level head with Galaxi despite her bad temper.

The two continued 'star sparring' for another hour or two before Danny finally had enough. He flopped down on a rock and closed his eyes. His limbs shook and his breathing was shaky. Galaxi folded her arms and hovered over Danny. Opening one eye, Danny glared at her: "I need a break," he said shortly.

"Fine, whatever," Galaxi said sitting down beside him.

Danny shut his eyes again and tried to relax. Noticing some dirt on Danny's cheek, Galaxi licked her thumb and wiped the dirt away. The presence of wetness against his cheek caused Danny to flinch. "Oh, sorry," Galaxi apologized.

Something in her voice told Danny she actually meant it. Galaxi quickly adverted her gaze away from Danny, her cheeks turning a dark red. Danny cocked an eyebrow. "You alright?" he asked.

"Fine. Fine," Galaxi answered trying her hardest to sound okay.

Seeing that Galaxi was uncomfortable, Danny kept quiet. An awkward silence lingered between them for a while before Galaxi finally spoke: "So…uh…how you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, uh…okay….I guess…what about you?" Danny asked, slightly shocked and confused by the randomness of the question.

"Good…good…" Galaxi answered staring at her feet.

She looked up quickly at Danny, who was staring at his feet as well. Taking note o how messy Danny's hair had gotten, Galaxi unconsciously began ruffling the ghost boy's hair.

Danny flinched and pushed her hand away. "What are you doing?!" he asked.

"Nothing! Nothing…I-I just….you're hair was messy…"Galaxi said awkwardly.

"It's always messy," Danny said running his fingers through his hair.

"I mean like _really_ messy, like, more than usual," Galaxi said.

"Oh…why were you looking at my hair anyway?" Danny asked.

"What? Can't I look at your hair?" Galaxi asked, sounding slightly offended.

"Well, you can! I just…don't see why you would bother looking at me….I mean….don't you hate me?" Danny asked.

"I do _not_!" Galaxi snapped, sounding now even more offended.

"Well, then why do you always yell at me and stuff?!" Danny retorted.

"Maybe you just…get on my nerves sometimes…" Galaxi explained.

Danny crossed his arm. "Well, you can get on my nerves sometimes, too," he said.

"Fine, we're even," Galaxi said.

"Cool," Danny said.

"Yeah," Galaxi agreed.

"Fine."

"Fine!"

Another awkward silence hung in the air as the two ghosts glared at each other. "So…uh…Rocky keeps making fun of you for liking me…" Danny said finally.

Galaxi's eye widened and her cheeks became redder. "Well I don't!" she snapped defensively.

"Yeah, I didn't think so…" Danny said looking off.

"But that doesn't mean I hate you," Galaxi said.

Danny looked at her. She had a sincere look on her face for once. "Uh, look. Can we just start over?" she asked.

Danny smiled. "Sure." He held out his hand. "I'm Danny."

Galaxi smiled. "Galaxi." They shook hands.

_Well, she's not so bad…it'd be creepy if she liked me though…_Danny thought to himself.

Galaxi smiled quirkily and let go of Danny's hand. She arched an eyebrow and studied Danny's features. Something about him was familiar. The collar, his white gloves, his messy hair. It all reminded her of someone.

Meanwhile, Rocky and Aster sat boredly on the asteroid's floor. Rocky decided to get up and fly around for a while. He paused when he got to close to the edge. Suddenly, something caught his eye. There was a shiny object winking up at him at the foot of Nocturn's palace. His eyes glittering, Rocky smiled.

"My star ball!" he cried in joy.

Without thinking, Rocky took off for his precious possession.

"ROCKY! WAIT!" Aster called.

"What's going on?" Danny asked, his head perking up.

"Rocky found his star ball on Nocturn's lawn and he went after it!" Aster explained.

"That idiot!" Galaxi shirked.

"We gotta stop him!" Danny stated.

And with that, the three ghosts took off after Rocky.

_**CLIFFHANGER! Am I evil or what! –smiles deviously- lol jk! Don't worry! I'm gonna get to work on the next chapter right away 8D I promise! (seriously!) **_

_**Oh! And for those of you wondering who Danny reminds Galaxi of, you're not gonna find out until the very end of the story –gets sharp objects thrown at her- Sorry! That's just how it's gotta be…-runs and hides-**_

_**R&R w/NO FLAMES please!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**I am SOOOO sorry for not updating quicker! I'm taking today to update all my hiatus stories (mainly this one). It's a bit short I think, but I hope you like it 8D**_

_**Oh! And one more thing…**_

_**-rolls on the floor laughing her butt off- I love the reviews I had gotten for the last chapter! I can't believe you people think Galaxi has a crush on Danny! Lol I am truly a maniacal genius XD Okay, not really, but whatever. Well, anyway, enjoy!**_

**Chapter 10: Nocturn's Castle**

Rocky swooped down on a glowing orb of light. When he was close enough, the orb dissolved into the form of a star. Rocky picked it up and cradled it in his hands.

"There you are! Don't you run away from me like that again, okay?" Rocky whispered to the star ball.

Danny, Galaxi, and Aster landed in Nocturn's lawn and bolted up to Rocky.

"Hey, guys! Look! I found my star ball," Rocky beamed holding out his star ball.

"Yeah, uh huh, that's great. ROCKY YOU IDIOT!" Galaxi shrieked grabbing that ball and tossing it to the side.

The ball whizzed through on of Nocturn's window, shattering part of it leaving the shape of a star.

The Atmosphere Club gaped at the window.

"My ball!" Rocky cried.

He darted for the window.

"Rocky! What are you doing?" Galaxi hissed.

"What? Nocturn's out looking for us remember? He's not here now," Rocky explained, somehow managing to squeeze through the star shaped opening in Nocturn's window.

"I am going to kill him," Galaxi hissed.

"But, he's a ghost so technically…." Aster began.

"Oh whatever! Let's just get the little brat out of the house before Nocturn get's back," Galaxi snapped.

The Atmosphere Club members carefully approached the castle before pushing open the giant black wood doors. They gapped at the enormity of the main hall. The floor was a dark shade of purple that glittered from the stars that adorned the pitch black ceiling. The top half of the walls were black like the ceiling but further down the color blend into the same purple of the floor. A black chandelier hung from the ceiling (Danny actually noticed it was floating) and lit up the room with bright purple flames.

Rocky floated over to his ball and picked it up. "Gotcha! Now let's go home," Rocky cooed to the ball.

Galaxi tapped her foot on the floor making a faint echoing noise on the shimmering floor. "Well, I hope you learned a lesson from this," she spat.

"Not really," Rocky smirked.

The two glared at each other for a long while before Danny broke the silence. "Look, can we just get out of here? This place is giving me the creeps," he said shuddering.

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Aster called pointing to a crystal orb floating at the far of the room.

The four ghosts crowded around it. A blue mist swirled around inside the orb.

"It's nothing special. Now come on let's go!" Galaxi snapped.

"Wait! I think something's happening!" Danny stopped her.

The mist suddenly took the form of an African American boy with glasses surrounded by dozens of girls.

"Hey…that's Tucker!" Danny realized.

The image of Tucker dissolved into that of a Goth girl in a dark, desert area with dozens of other Goths crowding around a giant purple sigh with a pair of giant red eyes on it. Underneath it the words "_Gothopalooza_" in giant black letters.

"That's Sam," Danny stated.

Sam and her fellow Goths melted into the form of Danny in his regular, non-starry ghost form.

"That's…me?!" Danny gasped.

Just then, a Latina wearing a bright pink shirt rushed in and gave Danny a kiss on the cheek. In return, Danny hugged the girl.

"Paulina…figures," Danny said.

"How do you know all these people?" Galaxi asked.

"And why can we see them?" Aster asked.

"They're my friends…and Paulina…I think this is how Nocturn monitors dreams," Danny explained.

"That's just creepy," Galaxi cringed.

Rocky yawned and began floating towards the door. Suddenly, he paused by a dark umber colored desk. A purple book with black criss-crosses all over the cover lay on it. Interested, Rocky picked it up. He noticed there were pages of different ghosts with biographies on each of them explaining each of their strengths and weak points. Rocky looked at the cover page. The title looked like a collection of different stars conglomerated to somehow form words.

"Hey, guys!" Rocky called. "Look at this!"

Danny, Aster, and Galaxi walked over to Rocky. Danny took the book from Rocky and studied the cover page. "What is this?"

"It's a book of people Nocturn's watching out for. The cover page says: "Powerful Enemies" in star script," Rocky explained.

The ladybug on Danny's shoulder perked it's antennas up in interest.

Danny flipped through thee pages. Most of the ghosts were unrecognizable except for one or two Danny had seen in the Ghost Zone before. The most noticeable ghost was Clockwork. Danny smirked. Figured Clockwork would be able to stop Nocturn. It made Danny wonder if Clockwork would help them if he ever found a way out of the Star Realm.

He flipped to the next page to see his picture on it. He smirked. It was rather funny that Nocturn considered him a powerful enemy. Danny didn't know why, but he found it funny somehow.

The next page caused Danny's eyes to grow the size of dinner plates. A picture of ladybug with black stars decorating it's shell and antennas shaped like stars was on the page underneath the words: Star Bug.

"So that's what star bugs looked like. I was wondering about that," Galaxi said crossing her arms and studying the picture.

Aster took the book from a shaking Danny and read the bio of it. "Star bugs are composed of a massive amount of star power and normally reside in the human world disguised as bugs (mostly ladybugs). They have no specific form but they are powerful for their size and capable of transferring portions of their power to other beings," Aster read.

Danny raised a shaky hand to his left shoulder and flinched slightly when the ladybug crawled onto it. He studied the ladybugs features and then looked back at the picture in the book. They were exactly alike. Danny could hear his teeth beginning to chatter.

Noticing Danny's advanced state of shock, Rocky flew up to him. "What's wrong Danny?" Rocky asked. He waved his tiny hand in front of Danny's face.

Danny shook his head and finally spoke:

"This ladybug, the one that won't leave me alone, it's a star bug! That's how I got star power!"

_**MWAHAHAHA!!! Cliffhanger of doom! Okay, come on! Show of hands. Who saw that coming? –raises hand- Okay, I don't count I wrote it 8D lol R&R w/NO FLAMES please!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**I updated? INCONCIEVABLE! Heh, sorry 'bout that. Everytime I got started on this chapter something came up (lame excuse I know) Well, I hope it was at least worth your wait…I hope…**_

**Chapter 11: Sirius**

"Whoa! That's so awesome!" Rocky cried.

"Well that explains why you got the dream power that shot you out of the star hole," Galaxi said looking at the ladybug with a sudden interest.

"Yeah, that's cool, now can we leave? I'm getting the spooks," Aster shivered.

"You four aren't going anywhere," growled a voice that sent shivers up the spines of Danny and his friends.

"Nocturn!" Danny cried as a starry tentacle emerged from a dark archway.

"Danny Phantom. I'm glad you're here. Searching for you was becoming _tiring_," Nocturn chortled at his own dream pun.

"Wait!" Galaxi cried. "You're really Danny Phantom?"

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Danny spat.

Galaxi's eyes grew wide as her pupils shrunk to the size of ants. "Well…this is awkward…"

"'Cause you like him," Rocky nudged.

"Do not!" Galaxi hissed. Why was Rocky always insisting on that?

"Ah, Galaxi, Aster, and Rocky. I was wondering when you'd finally show up," Nocturn grinned.

"H-how do you know our names?" Aster asked shakily.

"I've always known who you were. I can see the dreams of everyone, including those in my own realm," Nocturn explained cupping the crystal orb that floated in the middle of the room in his hands.

"Then why didn't you ever try to capture us?" Rocky asked.

Nocturn smirked. "I only saw your dreams, I never actually knew where you were. And besides I never really saw the point. You three weren't nearly as powerful as your parents, and if you don't mind me saying you're a little bit stupid, especially you two," Nocturn said pointing to Aster and Rocky.

"Hey! Galaxi's not _that_ stupid!" Rocky cried defensively.

"He was pointing at _you_ ding-dong," Galaxi said drolly.

"Oh, well…she's still not that stupid!" Rocky cried.

Galaxi rolled her eyes before looking back at Nocturn. "If you captured our parents because they were powerful, why did you take my little sisters?"

"They just happened to get caught as well, nothing personal," Nocturn said.

Galaxi clenched her fists and growled.

"Now that you're here, I figure I might as well lock you up with them, seeing as you're so keen on seeing them again," Nocturn chortled.

"Where are they? Are they here?" Aster asked frantically.

"Perhaps," Nocturn grinned mischievously.

"Just tell us where they are a-and we'll leave you alone if that's what you want!" Galaxi shrieked trembling. Danny could tell through her grimace she was absolutely terrified.

Nocturn cackled. "Hm-hm. You think it's as simple as just 'leaving me alone'? Those with power are prone to use it and they usually come out on top. I can't have your families floating about my realm with all that power…"

"Because you're afraid?" Rocky asked.

Nocturn scowled. Unwillingly, he admitted: "Wouldn't you be frightened of losing control when you were at the top of your game? This is my world. Mine! I don't intend to lose it because of star powered freaks!"

Suddenly, he was hit by a blast of light. He turned to face his attacker, it was Danny.

"You know, you might wanna cut down on the villain speeches next time," Danny said before blasting Nocturn again.

The blast fused into Nocturn's skin and dimmed a few of the stars in his left arm. It turned flimsy and smoky and Nocturn hissed in rage. He clenched his fist and concentrated hard as his arm reformed into a solid. Danny hurtled another blast at Nocturn who disapperated into the thin air before it could hit him. He reappeared behind Danny and snapped his fingers.

"Sirius!" he hissed.

"Sirius?" Danny asked.

Suddenly, there was a low growl and something struck Danny from the side. Danny looked up at his attacker: a pitch black dog with purple ears shaped like stars, violet paws, and blazing yellow eyes. The dog barked at him.

"Oh, Sirius. Heh, like the constellation…star pun….I get it…" Danny said before blowing the dog off of him.

Sirius landed in front of Galaxi, Aster, and Rocky. Aster shot off in the opposite direction as Galaxi disintegrated into a mass of stars that split from the middle and circled around the dog. Rocky took off and began buzzing around the castle.

"Try and catch my boy! Come on! FETCH!" he teased.

Sirius growled and pounced on the little rocket. Rocky struggled and squirmed but he couldn't budge.

"He's very useful, but he hate's it out in the human world so I keep him here in case I come across any-unwanted visitors," Nocturn explained.

"Rocky!" Aster gasped.

He suddenly rose to the ceiling and curled up into a ball. He came down on Sirius with enormous force and landed right on top of him, created a large crater in the floor.

"That'll teach you to mess with my friends," Aster stated.

"Asssssssst-uh!" came Rocky's muffled voice.

Aster reached underneath Sirius and pried Rocky from under his belly.

"Whoops. Heh, sorry Rocky," Aster apologized.

Rocky coughed. "It's okay man."

Sirius stood up and shook the debris off his fur. His eyes narrowed in on the boys and he growled viciously. He lunged forward and was about to bite them when he was suddenly pulled back by a string of stars. Danny started leading the dog away like a marionette. Sirius was strong, though, and he ran off, pulling Danny along from the rise. Suddenly, a gust of stars zoomed by, snapping the star ropes and causing Danny to fall and roll across the floor. He looked up and saw Galaxi reforming in front of him.

"Thanks," he thanked.

"No problem." Galaxi blasted Sirius back as he charged for her.

"You know, I'm surprised you haven't sent you sleepwalkers on us by now," Danny pointed out.

"They're a little busy at the moment, putting the entire world to sleep. It's a shame you aren't there to stop them, Danny Phantom," Nocturn said leaning in.

Danny narrowed his eyes in on Nocturn. He was about ready to punch him in the face when Sirius grabbed his wrist with his fangs.

"GAH!" Danny cried trying to pry the dog off of him.

"Hey! Get offa him!" Rocky cried whizzing up to the dog and punching him in the nose.

Sirius whimpered and swiped his paw at Rocky, sending him flying into Galaxi.

"Hmm…now Sirius, play nicely," Nocturn chortled. "Well, I'm off to check on the human world. Be a good boy." Nocturn grinned mischievously as Sirius dragged Danny outside.

"Oh," Nocturn said disappearing then reappearing outside with Sirius and Danny. "When you're finished with him, feel free to put the others with their families."

"Why not just do it yourself?" Danny muttered. He hadn't intended for Nocturn to hear him so he jumped a little bit when Nocturn replied:

"Quite honestly, I don't care what becomes of them. They're nothing special."

"Hey! They're my friends!" Danny snapped.

Nocturn said nothing. His eyes narrowed in on the lady bug hovering beside Danny. A look of fear became present on his face. Turning to face Sirius, he whispered darkly: "Destroy the bug."

And with that, he disappeared with a wave of his hand. Sirius looked at the bug and growled with delight. Perhaps the ladybug meant lunch, Danny thought.

Just then, Aster pummeled Sirius to the ground. Sirius's fangs ripped part of Danny's glove and left a small slit in his wrist. Danny gasped in pain and seized his wrist. He looked back at it and noticed a small glob of green dripping out of his wound. Around his wrist was glittering saliva.

"Yuck! Celestial drool," Danny gagged.

Galaxi rocketed forward and blasted Sirius in the mouth. As the dog fell to the ground, Rocky landed in front of him.

"Ha! Take that!" he said kicking dirt in the animal's face.

Sirius twitched and gasped. He moved his head back.

"And…what did kicking dirt in his face accomplish?" Danny asked.

"I dunno, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing I guess," Rocky admitted sounding almost embarrassed.

"Well, it did something. Look!" Aster said pointing to Sirius who was still twitching.

"ACHOO!" Sirius sneezed, a pale cloud of sparkling dust wafted out of him.

Galaxi, Aster, and Rocky jumped out of the way. "Pff, guys he just sneezed! It's not like…he…shot…lasers or…something…" Danny suddenly fell to ground.

He was fast asleep.

_**AAAAAANNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDD cliffhanger. –shot- Sorry that's it's so short but, don't worry, I'll try to update quicker this time. I SWEAR!**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**R&R w/NO FLAMES please.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Wow…I updated? Incredible! Hope you enjoy!**_

**Chapter 12: The Reveal**

Danny woke up in his room. It was sunny out and it looked like there had been a storm the previous night. The window was open and Danny could smell rain and felt a cool breeze.

"What just happened?" he asked.

He stepped back from the window. "Going ghost!" His ghost form was normal, nothing starry about it.

"Huh?" Danny said as he reverted back to his human form. "It was all a dream."

Part of him was relived. No one was in danger from Nocturn and that was good. But part of him was a little disappointed. He actually enjoyed his new friends, even Galaxi (for all her annoying qualities), and they weren't even real.

Danny sighed sadly. "Well, I might as well get breakfast since I'm up."

Slowly, he made his way down stairs.

Aster bulldozed into Sirius and knocked the dog unconscious. He curled into himself a little bit and said: "Sorry…"

"Nice job, Aster," Galaxi said patting his arm.

"Heh, thanks Gal," Aster said bashfully.

"So the dog's down. What about Danny?" Rocky asked.

The ladybug tickled Danny's nose with its antennas but to no avail.

"We've gotta wake him up somehow," Aster said.

"One of us needs to overshadow him and wake him up," Rocky said.

"I don't know if I would fit inside him," Aster said looking at Galaxi.

"Ew! I'm not going in there!" Galaxi shuddered.

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll do it."

He rose in the air and then rocketed into Danny's mind.

Danny was almost to the kitchen where Rocky appeared.

"Danny!"

"Wow! Rocky?"

"Danny you've gotta wake up!"

"I'm asleep?" Danny asked.

"Yeah," Rocky said.

"Wait, then why aren't I waking up. I know this is a dream now…"

"People don't always wake up from dreams even when they know they're dreaming," Rocky explained.

"Well then, how do I wake up?" Danny asked.

Rocky shrugged.

"You should shock me awake1" Danny said snapping his fingers.

"Me appearing out of thin air didn't do that?" Rocky asked.

"I guess I'm just used to ghosts appearing suddenly," Danny said.

"Well, what freaks you out then?" Rocky asked.

"Uhm…" Danny pondered for a moment but nothing came to him. "Probably my parents trying to tear me apart molecule by molecule."

Suddenly, his parents appeared holding a scalpel and razor. "You lied to us, Danny," his mother said hauntingly.

"You've deceived us. You've been using us all this time. You were watching us work so that you could find a way to prevent us from destroying your kind," his father added.

Danny trembled a little but he wasn't totally shocked.

"How is this not creeping you out?" Rocky asked trembling.

"It's scary. But I guess because I said it out loud I knew it was coming so it's not as scary as if it came out of nowhere," Danny said.

The horrifying images of his parents disappeared.

"Well then, what do we do?" Rocky asked.

"Shock me in some way," Danny shrugged.

"Hmm…" Rocky snapped hi' fingers. "I could drop you!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Danny said.

Rocky grabbed Danny by the collar of his pajamas and hoisted him into the air. "Wait! No! Rocky! Aaugh!" Danny grabbed onto the railing of the staircase.

"How did that not work?" Rocky cried.

"Probably 'cause you said something," Danny said.

Rocky smacked his forehead and thought. Suddenly, he came up with something that would surely chill Danny to the bone.

"Well, we gotta wake you up soon. Galaxi's a wreck!" Rocky said.

"Really?" Danny asked.

"Yeah! Didn't you know."

"Know what?"

"She's madly and passionately in love with you!"

Danny's pupils shrunk.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Danny screamed and he shot up from the ground. Rocky flew out of Danny's head and landed safely in mid air.

Danny took one look at Galaxi and screamed. Galaxi seized Rocky's shirt and brought them nose to nose. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing," Rocky smiled innocently.

Galaxi released Rocky but still glared icily at him. Aster went to pat Danny on the back. "What happened?" Danny asked.

"Aster beat Sirius. We don't know where Nocturn is," Rocky explained.

"I think I heard him say he was going into the real world," Danny recalled.

"Is there a portal into the real world?" Aster asked.

"I doubt it. Nocturn can probably apparate in and out of the Ghost Zone," Danny said standing up.

"Doesn't mean we can't check his castle," Galaxi said.

"Why would you of all people want to go into his castle?" Danny asked.

Galaxi said nothing. Danny wondered if he had upset her. He then wondered if Rocky just said she was in love with him to wake him up. He tried not to think about it.

"You just wanna look for your family, don't you?" Rocky asked accusingly.

"And why is that a bad thing?" Danny asked not understanding Rocky's disapproval.

"She doesn't want to fight Nocturn, she just wants to find her family," Rocky said.

"There's no use in fighting Nocturn!" Galaxi shrieked.

"What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to face Nocturn!" Danny said.

"We did and look what happened! You feel asleep and that dog bit me!" Galaxi showed a gash in her arm where Sirius must've scratched or bitten her.

"That doesn't mean we can give up! Let's say you do find your family, then what? Nocturn would still be on the loose and then he could still hurt you guys," Danny said grabbing Galaxi's hand and looking at the gash in her arm.

Galaxi ripped her arm away from him. "I want my family back! If you had a choice between your family and the villain, who would you pick?"

"The villain because the villain is the one I need to get rid of first in order to keep my family safe! I look at it from a hero's perspective!" Danny said.

"So what? You're saying your way is better?" Galaxi barked.

"If we can defeat Nocturn you and your family will safe! Isn't that what you want? To be safe?" Danny asked.

Galaxi tried to hold back the tears. She shook her head and said: "Fine!" She wiped her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Just…just promise we'll get our families back."

"I promise," Danny smiled.

Galaxi looked down at her feet. Danny didn't know exactly what a hug would mean to Galaxi after what Rocky had said, but it looked like she needed one so Danny pulled her close and hugged her as tight as he could.

"Aw!" Rocky cooed jokingly.

Aster rubbed his arm uncomfortably and asked: "Uh, so what do we do now?"

Danny released Galaxi and turned around. "Look for an entrance into the real world."

The four ventured back into Nocturn's castle and looked for a room or something to lead them into the real world but not before stuffing the knocked out Sirius into a closet. They checked all the doors down the hallway but could find nothing; just various rooms and dining halls (Danny still found it odd that ghosts would need to eat). There was a door at the end of one room, the bedroom to be exact. Danny tried to open it but it was locked.

"Alright, look for a key," Danny said.

The four spread out and looked through drawers, bookshelves, underneath the bed and the covers.

"Why would Nocturn have a portal to the real world anyway? Like you said, couldn't he just apparate?" Galaxi asked looking under the dresser.

"Well, maybe he has one incase he's feeling weak and powerless. Makes traveling easier," Danny suggested.

"I can't find it," Aster said.

"I have an idea!" Rocky said. "Aster, just breaking the handle on the door, then we won't need a key!"

Aster looked hesitant but decided to give it a try. He raised his enormous hand and brought it down hard o on the door knob breaking it off.

"Ha! Take that you door!" Rocky mocked making muscle man poses.

Galaxi pushed him aside and into Aster's face. As the door began to swing open, Danny reached forward. Inside the was a swirling green vortex much like the one in Danny's portal at home.

"Hello, portal," Danny grinned.

"So now what? Just find Nocturn and defeat him?" Galaxi asked.

Danny froze.

"Or do you have no idea what to do now?" Galaxi asked drolly.

"Alright, we're gonna need some weapons," Danny said.

"And where are we gonna find these weapons?" Galaxi asked.

"At my house," Danny said. The ladybug perched itself on Danny's shoulder.

"Your house? Isn't that in the Ghost Zone?" Rocky asked.

"No, it's in the real world. I'm only half ghost, remember?" Danny asked.

The other three stared at him. "We didn't know that…" Galaxi said.

"Oh…" Danny said. "Well, I am so…I live in the human world."

"Okay…" Galaxi said.

"So what about the weapons?" Aster asked.

"My parents are ghost hunters…" Danny began.

"But _you're_ a ghost," Galaxi pointed out.

"Yeah, it's a long…complicated story, but anyway my parents built stuff to defeat ghosts and….most of them work," Danny said.

"We don't know how to use weapons," Galaxi said.

"Don't worry. I'll teach you guys how to use them. You're with me, right?" Danny asked.

There was a beat of hesitation, but the others inevitably agreed. They walked through the portal and ended up in Danny's basement.

"Huh…I don't really know how to feel about this," Danny muttered.

Upstairs, Danny could hear snoring. "Whose up there?" Aster shuddered.

Danny suddenly remembered his father was fast asleep at the bottom on the staircase. "My dad."

Danny walked up stairs and the others followed. When they reached Jack Fenton, Rocky said: "Wow. You get your figure from your mom, huh?"

Galaxi nudged Rocky. Danny pulled Aster back when he was about to touch Jack's sleeping form. "See that?" Danny asked pointing to the sleep helmet. "While he's wearing that we can't touch him, but I can go inside him and wake him up."

"Do we need to wake him up?" Galaxi asked.

Danny looked down at his father. "He's kind of bumbling, but he could be helpful." Softly, Danny added: "And he might as well know."

"Know what?" Galaxi asked.

"It's personal, don't worry about it. Just wait here, this shouldn't be long," Danny said before diving into his father's dream.

Jack's dream wasn't anything shocking. The scene was Jack on a float with Maddie, Jazz, and Danny being praised by all of Amity Park for being the world's greatest ghost hunter. Vlad went up to the float and stood at a podium. The speaker cracked and Vlad began to talk:

"Ladies and gentlemen. It is my great pride to honor my good friend Jack Fenton with this ghost hunting award!"

Danny couldn't help but laugh. Was there even an award for that?

"Oh, shucks Valddy," Jack said modestly before swiping the award out of Vlad's hand.

Maddie, Jazz, and dream Danny all clapped. "Wait to go dad!" dream Danny called.

Danny sighed. This dream had to become a nightmare soon.

Danny flew into the scene and floated over the citizens. "Jack Fenton!" Danny's voice boomed. "I challenge you! Bet you can't catch me!"

"Phantom!" Jack cried. He pulled a bazooka out from behind his back and shot at Danny. Danny turned invisible and overshadowed Vlad. He promptly smacked himself in the face. And then punched himself in the gut. And then jumped off the edge of the float. When Danny phased out of Vlad, he muttered: "It had to be done."

He flew in front of his dream self and family and said: "Boo."

They screamed and ran away. Danny felt a little embarrassed watching himself scream like a complete wimp but he tried not to let it get to him. Jack shot at him again and this time it hit him.

"Agh!"

Danny shakily pushed himself up. He heard Jack come up behind him. Turning around, he saw his father look more enraged than he ever had.

"Don't you hurt my family," Jack said darkly. He aimed and Danny flew out of the way. "Don't you hurt my wife!" Blast! Danny flew out of the way. "Don't you hurt my daughter!" And again, blast! "And don't you dare hurt my son!" The bazooka was firing up.

"I wouldn't hurt them, especially not your son!" Danny said.

"Liar!" Jack cried.

"No, I'm telling the truth! At least I am now."

Jack lowered his weapon looking puzzled. Danny closed his eyes and transformed into his human form.

_**I felt like this chapter was a bit rushed and I do apologize for that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter otherwise. 8)**_


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